Daishinkon Gattai Godannar Kai!
by Lavenian
Summary: The unofficial third season of Godannar, the threat of the Mimetic Beasts is far from over, and the shadow of their threat grows greater still. New players step into the fray, but with them, new secrets that could tip the scales of the battles to come.
1. Episode 1

_**Daishinkon Gattai Godannar Kai**_

Disclaimer: Godannar is the copyright of Yasuchika Nagaoka, under no circumstances do I hold any ownership over his work.

Dannar was battling a Mimetic Beast of the coast of Hokkaido, despite all his skill as veteran robot pilot, these past few weeks have seen the Mimetic Beasts getting fiercer and more aggressive than ever.

It has only been a few months since the final defeat of the Mimetic Beasts, and yet, despite the hope for all mankind that the threat these monsters posed had been put to an end, numerous sightings and minor attacks had proven otherwise.

The Earth Bases, fearful that another Mimetic Beast War will occur if left unchecked, and unwilling to allow the tragedies of the previous conflicts to happen again, the Bases have since begun a massive extermination operation, seeking out and destroying any and all areas the Enemy is using as nesting sites, hoping to diminish their numbers and perhaps, finally put an end to the threat once and for all.

Goh had been sent out by Dannar Base earlier when a Mimetic Beast nesting zone was sighted on the coast of Hokkaido. He had to come alone since his wife, Anna, was pregnant and more or less amounting to two reasons why she shouldn't come: the aches and pains of pregnancy would be a hindrance on the battlefield, and there exists a chance neither she nor her baby will make it alive.

Although in this situation, Goh really doesn't stand a chance either, despite all his years as a robot pilot, his own robot, Dannar, is practically helpless by itself, and coupled with the fact the defender of the Mimetic Beast nest is being extremely defensive, Goh was practically on his last legs.

"Damn, this is isn't looking good" Goh remarked as the large Mimetic Beast squirted out a net-like thread of goo at him, immobilizing Dannar in its web, "Argh! What's this… this slime!"

As Dannar tried to escape the grasp of the Beast's trap, the Mimesis wasted no time dragging the Dannar closer to it, "Damn it! Is this… my final curtain call?" Goh contemplated as the Mimetic Beast was about ready to bite Dannar's head off…

"Gravity Bomber!" the Mimesis was suddenly hit by an attack that disoriented it's encroachment on Dannar, freeing Goh from the Beast's grasp.

"What?" Dannar turned to see that it was a blast from Neo-Okusaer, seeing him in this condition, Mira had come in as reinforcement.

"I can't believe you Goh, even with all experience you still can't handle anything on your own can you?" Mira said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Heh, it doesn't really matter, so long as I have people I can count on," Goh said confidently.

Mira remarked, "Heh, whatever Goh."

The large Mimetic Beast tried to swipe its large claw at Neo, but the robot jumped over the large Beast's body and did a diving kick onto its head, ramming the monster face-first into the ground, disorienting it for the time being, "How's that?" Mira mocked.

The monster, although a bit fazed, was undeterred in its assault nonetheless, "Ha, still trying to hold a fight, aren'tcha?" Goh remarked.

"Goh! Let's combine and…" but before Mira could finish her sentence, another voice could be heard, "Jet Boy! Gear Down!" It was Go-Okusaer, the Robot of Anna Saruwatari, Goh's wife.

"Goh-chin! What ARE you doing! If you're in trouble you could have asked me for help!" Anna shouted.

"Anna-chan! But, you're pregnant, what if something happens to you or the baby!" Goh shouted, obviously concerned.

But not Anna-chan, "Baka! You shouldn't be worried about things like that! I'm a strong woman! There's no way I'll get killed and neither can MY baby!"

So began their argument, "Anna-chan, even if you're strong there ARE limits to a woman's strength you know!"

Anna took this as an insult, "Are you saying I'm WEAK! Huh, HUH!"

This was getting awkward, "A-Anna, I'm not saying you're weak…"

"But you just said there are LIMITS to a woman's strength!" Anna shouted, getting more pissed.

Goh tried to calm her down, "Anna, limits and weaknesses are two different things!"

Mira tried to break up their quarrel, "Uh… guys."

But Anna wouldn't allow the "hussy" to speak, "Stay out of this Mira!"

Then, disaster! "Agghh!" Anna shrieked in pain, "A-Anna, what happened? What's wrong!"

Anna tried to talk, but was facing difficulty, "G-Goh-chin… I… It… it hurts…"

Goh tried to check what was up, "Anna, what's…" then it hit him, "Anna! Is it the baby! What's wrong? What's happening?"

Anna was retracting in pain from inside Go-Okusaer, "Goh-chin… H-help…"

Goh was getting anxious, he knew Anna shouldn't have come, but no point for her going back now.

"Anna, let's merge, we'll destroy this one then get back to the base quick, all right?"

"O-okay"

Dannar and Go-Okusaer shifted into a new mode, one where the two would fuse into the vastly superior Godannar.

"Drive change GO!" both shouted in unison as their robots fused together, and upon completion, exclaimed "Godannar, Twin Drive!"

Anna winced again, when they merged.

"Anna, are you all right?" asked Goh, deeply concerned.

"D-don't worry, I'll be fine Goh-chin, but right now, we gotta finish this!" said Anna, still determined as ever.

"All right, let's go!" Goh exclaimed.

Mira had been keeping the Beast busy for a while to buy Goh and Anna some time.

The beast used its large blade-like limb to try and slice at Neo-Okusaer, but Mira and her Robot nimbly somersaulted over it, then gave a powerful kick to it's chin, disorienting the beast and thrusting it back, Neo-Okusaer then followed with a powerful palm punch, stunning the beast and pushing it further back.

Then Mira called out to Godannar, "All right, do it, Goh! Anna!"

"All right!" Godannar pulled back and, propelled by the thrust of its flame jet, Godannar readied his fist for the attack.

"Heart… BREAKER!" Godannar punched right into the body of the Mimesis, digging his forearm deep into the Beast's hide.

"Now, Anna!" Goh shouted.

"Haah! Urgh!" Anna winced again, but managed to recover fast enough to pull the trigger to complete the move.

In a flash, the body of the Mimesis turned into a rock-hard, solid object, like a statue.

In this state, the Beast was now practically sitting duck, Godannar then pulled back its fist from the Beast's body, then, prepared its finisher.

"All right!" then Godannar jumped high into the air, blazing a trail of blue flame as it was ready to deliver the final strike, "Fire Soul BREAKER!"

Godannar lunged down in a diving kick at the Beast, wreathed in blue flames.

The Mimesis tried to break free, but it was no use, Godannar rushed down like a speeding bullet and broke the whole Beast apart!

"We did it Goh-chin! Urgh!" Anna again winced as her belly started to become even more painful.

"Anna, are you ok?" Goh asked concernedly.

"Goh-chin, I… I can't take it anymore, I don't think, we can make it back to the base in time…" Anna said, breathing heavily and with something wet and fluid sliding down her vagina.

"Wha-? Is… is the baby coming out?" Goh asked, his voice rising to almost a panic.

"I… I think so…" Anna's breathing was beginning to intensify, "Goh-chin, I… I can't go on like this, the baby, I think it's coming out!" she said, sounding VERY worried.

"Damn it! Anna, just… try to hold on!" Just then, Mira came into their cockpit, "Goh, what's happening?" she asked.

"It's Anna! She's going into labor, and we can't get back to the Base fast enough!"

"Damn, then we're gonna have to help her out now!"

"All right, Anna, I want you to calm down and try to breathe slowly" said Mira.

"O-okay…" Anna relaxed a bit, and then breathed in more smoothly.

"All right, now, let's see…" Mira had to cut open Anna's suit so that they could get her baby out.

First, Mira checked to see if her cervix was diluted enough for the baby to pass though, Mira checked, opening Anna up to see if it was all right.

Afterwards, Mira solemnly said "All right, looks good, now… the hard part" then Mira told Anna, "Anna, now, I want you to stay calm… and push the baby out."

"All right, I'll give it my best…" said Anna, breathing in slowly.

"All right, Goh, hold up her arms, and try to do whatever you can to calm her down" Mira commanded.

"Okay…" Goh then crouched down and held Anna by her arms, doing what he can to comfort her.

"It's all right Anna, I'm here with you, and it'll be fine" Goh said with a kind smile to re-assure his young wife.

"I-I know, Goh-chin…" Anna said with a painful smile, but one that showed her confidence and faith in her husband.

Then Mira had Anna resume, "All right Anna, let's do this now, the sooner the better!"

Anna looked back at Mira, her friend and senpai, "Okay"

Anna gave a loud heave as she began the painful procedure.

Anna heaved and wheezed as she slowly, but agonizingly, pushed her child out, "Aaaahh!" Anna shrieked briefly before continuing.

Later…

"Keep going Anna, your almost there!" said Mira, having Anna continue further.

Anna kept screaming, each time getting louder and increasing in frequency.

"Please hang on Anna!" Goh said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I will… now stop crying you idiot!" Anna said, with Anger and Anguish in her voice.

"All right, we're almost there! Hang on just a bit more Anna!" Mira exclaimed.

Anna pushed out as much as she could, as much as she can, and, with one last push, she let out a loud grunt, and finally, the baby was out!

"We did it, we did IT! Anna!" Goh was both relieved and excited, for both his and Anna's child was born.

"Yeah, we did it, Goh-chin!" said Anna happily.

However, Mira looked at the child with a solemn gaze, as if, something was wrong…

"Eh? Mira, what's wrong? What happened…?" Mira looked at her with a sad expression, then she spoke up, "Anna, the baby… she… she isn't breathing…" a rather ominous air had now seeped into Godannar's cockpit.

"Isn't… breathing? W-what are you talking about? Mira? What… what happened to my baby!" Mira closed her eyes as she hung her head low.

"Mira, hey, Mira! What happened!" with no reply, Anna whisked the baby from Mira, to see what had happened…

"Hey, hey, wake up; it's your mom, so… please, wake up…" Anna looked at the little child held in her arms; eyes closed, completely still, not having drawn breath at all.

"Hey, hey, c'mon! Wake up! Wake up, please!" Anna was now screaming at the lifeless baby in her arms, before she broke down in tears and came to realize…

…Her baby was dead…

"No! Why! WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS!" Goh shouted, angry and sad at the same time…

The two parents mourned the loss of their baby, Mira could only watch at them solemnly, looking at the baby in Anna's arms: a girl, and a really pretty one at that, had she been allowed to live, she probably would have the greatest gift Anna and Goh could ever have, and now… she's gone…

That is, until Mira saw something move, suddenly, the baby gave a loud, audible cry, and Mira, Anna, and Goh were all surprised… she had no pulse, no breath, and was supposed to be dead, and yet… she was…

"She's ALIVE!" Anna was moved to tears as she looked at her child, alive and well!

Goh also looked at her, his face showing both shock and satisfaction, "Thank goodness!" The two parents cuddled with their child as she calmed down and looked more at peace, Mira felt a bit of relief as well, as she looked at the baby in the couple's arms.

14 years later…

Tatsuko was bored to death in her classroom, tired of listening to "Lecture Geezer," her affectionate name for her old 64-year old Math teacher, who does nothing but lecture on and on and on…

For Tatsuko, he must have been born to talk 24 hours a day and she simply couldn't take it anymore.

Elsewhere…

Lou Roux, the lone survivor of the original Cosmo Base disaster twenty-one years ago, known in history now as the Cosmo Fall tragedy, was all by herself, and although she lives in the Dannar Base, she continues to fight the Mimetic Beasts alone without anyone's help.

Wandering around the city, Lou reeled the horrible events that happened to her in the previous years, she remembered her father, who let her escape from the said tragedy all those years ago, despite her protests, and Ken, her friend and mentor, who was killed in the battle that should have ended the war against the Mimesis once and for all.

Lou now lives alone, fulfilling the promise Ken asked her to watch over Anna and Goh so that humanity would never have to suffer again…

Anna and Goh…

Even though she swore to watch over them as a request from Ken, Lou was somewhat envious of the couple, wondering what was it about them that made them so powerful, so driven, so united, she couldn't help but feel… they had something she lacked.

As Lou was pondering these thoughts, she accidentally bumped into somebody, and both fell to the ground, "Itai!" Lou looked to see the person he had bumped into.

He was a young man, of about her age, with dark blonde hair, and amber brown eyes, the guy then lent her a hand, "Are you ok?" he asked.

"I'm… fine" Lou replied.

Then the guy apologized, "Umm… sorry about that, I kinda spaced out while I was walking. I didn't mean any harm."

Lou shook her head, "No it's all right, I was thinking of something as well, so I wasn't looking either."

Both Lou and the guy just laughed a little over the silliness of it all, then the guy asked something from seemingly out of the blue, "Hey, you wanna go out for lunch with me?"

Lou was a bit surprised, "Eh?"

"Well, I was going out for lunch when I bumped into you. So you wanna come? I got enough money for two." He said.

Lou really didn't have anything to do at all for now, and it was getting close to lunch time, so she agreed to go with him.

"Great, I know a nifty restaurant nearby, let's go" he said, having Lou follow him.

The two entered a fine peafowl-themed restaurant, with lavish golden décor and ornamentations, contrasted by silver candle stands and a few hues of green here and there.

The guy had asked a waiter for a table for two and both seated down to enjoy their meal.

Back with Tatsuko, it wasn't easy being the daughter of the two legendary robot pilots who saved the world from total disaster, especially if she herself couldn't get to pilot a robot either. In the end, the only thing she could settle for was playing robot soccer, and for Tatsuko, it wasn't nearly enough for her to get a feeling of enjoyment from.

Tatsuko moved swiftly as her otherwise snob classmates once again declared she would lose that day. Tatsuko dodged one by the left, then another from behind, and one in front, now she only had to score one last point at the goal and everything would be fine.

The goalie, however, was not one to just let her get away with her sixth winning streak, "Don't underestimate me, Tatsuko! I've been working hard all week and studied all your moves! You can't get past me!" he boasted.

Tatsuko had known for a fact that these guys were barely up her league, the truth was that these guys were too rigid, to focused on maneuver to learn anything.

_Be like water, when water is poured into a cup, the water becomes the cup. Put it in a teapot, and it becomes the teapot. Water can be like the rushing rapids, or a calm lake._

Tatsuko understood that she didn't need to use anything standard or repetitive in her approach to win, all she really had to do… was to merely respond to action.

In the blink of an eye, Tatsuko thrust the ball in with a kick into the goal, and victory was hers again.

"You guys still need to learn about the true meaning of _style._" Tatsuko gave those final words of advice to her defeated classmates as they once again stooped down in loss.

And in an act of shameless exhibitionism and boast, Tatsuko reared her panties at her classmates, with the words "LOWER THAN THIS LEVEL" written on the cheeks of her rear end with ink, causing them to fall in the dramatic anime-style.

Because of her attitude, Tatsuko never had any close friends. All the girls found her to "extreme" for their tastes, and way too snobbish, even more so than the other snob girls in her class. The boys didn't like her because basically, she was way too shameless, and among other things she was a bully, at least to them.

The only person to ever be close with Tatsuko was her best friend and childhood confidant; Morimoto Goh, otherwise known as Mori-kun to Tatsuko, and Goh-nii to all others.

Even though Mori-kun's parents, who were friends to the Saruwatari family for years, named him after her father, Tatsuko always found it awkward to call him that; after all, Mori-kun could never rank up to her father; despite this fact, they're still very close.

"Mori-kun, where are you?" Tatsuko decided to visit him at his house, mostly to talk about stuff, and by stuff it's usually some topic of varying degrees of importance.

"Oh Tatsuko, hi, I was going to go heat some pizza in the oven, want some?"

Tatsuko nodded her head and went to lounge in his living room.

"All right, careful now, it's hot" Mori-kun came in with a wide plate with a pizza of his own make, with melted cheese, slices of ham, some chili, and a sauce of some special secret design.

Tatsuko took two slices off and shoved them down her throat, with little concern for the heat of the food, nor the fact she's stuffing two at a time.

Mori-kun then asked her a question, "They tried to best you again, huh?"

Tatsuko sighed, "Those boys still don't know how to beat me, it's about time they stopped finding out how to beat me and start learning how they can beat everything else."

"Your 'water' code?"

"Yeah."

Tatsuko had learned that in order for one to live in life, one must respond to their world. "Be like water" was the phrase that helped her get through any tribulation she encountered, for water is a formless being, and that its "shape" is its response to the living environment. For Tatsuko, she had to live like "water," that is, she had to take on her environment and use her body and anything else in her control to become part of everything, for Robot Soccer, she had to "feel" both her robot and the ball, become everything about her environ to control and thrive in it.

"You know Tatsuko, you're a real inspiration for everyone in the class, but you really should stop being so… well, so conceited."

Tatsuko looked at her best friend with a raised eyebrow, "Me? Conceited? Oh-ho, don't be fooled Mori-kun, if anyone was, it's those dumbass classmates of mine."

Mori-kun sighed, "You'll never get it, you know that?"

Tatsuko just took that as a compliment, "Whatever Mori-kun."

Lou, in the meantime, was with her companion in the restaurant, having ordered a moderate meal and then chatting about themselves, and what they do for a living, and an occasional "personal" info regarding them.

For Lou, this reminded her of a time in her youth when her parents, both still living, took her to a ritzy restaurant to celebrate her birthday, her father ordered for the cake that day, and her mother bought her gifts and paid for the restaurant, it was the best and joyous moment of her life, she only wished they were alive today.

Then her companion inquired, "So Lou, tell me, have you ever loved someone before?"

"Eh? Why would you ask that?"

"Well… I find love stories to be quite fascinating, and as most people say, reality has more impact than fiction, so care to share with me your love life?"

Lou technically had no people she was particularly attracted to; she had never chosen to dedicate herself to somebody; and to those that she did, she did not do so to that degree.

"Well, no… not really" Lou answered.

Her companion nodded in contemplation, as though he understood Lou's response.

"You know, have you ever made love with someone, my friend?" the guy looked at Lou with witty eyes.

Lou was caught off-guard by this question, "Eh?"

Her companion just laughed and then explained to her, "I'm just kidding! Though seriously, you really never had anyone you loved so much?"

Lou didn't quite like that joke, but felt his conversation was getting somewhere she had never thought about much, she loved her father, but only as a family love, and Ken also, but it was solely platonic and he was like an older brother to her than anything else.

"No" Lou turned away from him, somewhat ashamed, was this the reason she was so jealous of Goh and Anna for? She didn't know, all she knew was that this person was very fascinating to her, and she felt the need to know more.

At the Dannar Base, An alert resounded as the base's scanners picked up a reading of Mimetic Beasts nearby, "A Mimetic Beast is nearby!"

Shizuru, the Dannar Base commander, emerged from a door behind the bridge upon hearing the alert, "Status report, where is the Mimetic Beast coming from?"

"Approximately 20 kilometres southwest of the coastline!"

"Anna! Goh!"

"We got it!" Goh had suited up and was already at the Dannar.

"I'm here!" and so was Anna on her Go-Okusaer.

Kouji, Shizuru's second-in-command, ordered for the launch bay to open, "Open the launch bay!"

Shizuru then gave the order to launch, "Dannar! Go-Okusaer! Set off!"

The couple both cried, "Go!" as they were lifted out of the base, and onto the battlefield…

Meanwhile…

Lou was playfully enjoying her conversation with her companion until her pager informed her that a Mimetic Beast was nearby, her calm, serene look on her face, turned into a stern, cold look.

"Excuse me, but I need to go someplace, it's really urgent" Lou dashed off in an instant before her companion could say anymore.

"Hey wait!" he slumped back on his chair as he saw her leave out of his sight, "And we didn't even have dessert yet…"

As Anna and Goh descended to the field of battle, the large Mimetic Beast who had come to invade them had arrived just in time to face them, "Anna, lets finish this one in a hurry."

"Right, Goh-chin" replied Anna.

The large crab-like Mimetic Beast lugged forward towards Dannar and Okusaer, armed with heavy outer carapace armor, and a pair of large blades on it's forearms.

Dannar and Go-Okusaer shifted into a mode to fuse into one truly powerful robot, "Drive-change GO!"

"Dannar ON!" exclaimed both Anna and Goh, as their robots began the fusion into a single robot.

"Godannar… TWIN DRIVE!" once completed, both Go-Okusaer and Dannar became the all-powerful Godannar.

The crab-like Mimesis marched onward, headed for Godannar and ready to fight.

Godannar readied as the Beast approached, then made a mad dash towards the Beast, readying the fist for impact, "Heart…!"

Then, just before they made impact, Goh completed his shout, "…BREAKER!"

Godannar lunged its fist into the beast, however; the Beast retracted into it's shell, and as soon as Godannar's fist hit, the robot was repelled back when his fist made impact with a loud clang.

"What the?"

Anna then looked at their enemy carefully, "Goh-chin, the enemy's shell is too dense for our attack to work!"

"Dammit! Then we'll have to find a way to hit it while it's open, or if we can break its defense somehow!"

Elsewhere, Tatsuko had heard of her parents engaging an enemy nearby, and entered to her own private robot garage and prepped her modified Soccer Robot for battle, behind her was her good friend, Mori-kun, had come inside, looking somewhat exasperated.

"Tatsuko, are you gonna do what I think you're gonna do?"

Tatsuko just looked at her friend with a confident smile and boasted "Yup, if my mom and dad are gonna fight, then so am I! A family that plays together stays together!"

Mori-kun had always known that Tatsuko was a little "extreme," though he had absolutely no idea it was to this extent!

"Tatsuko! This is crazy! You could get killed!"

But Tatsuko just gave him another confidant smile and a pat on the chest, "You worry too much, Mori-kun."

Tatsuko mounted her robot and moved towards the entrance of the garage, then with a wave, she left as Mori-kun looked towards her direction, "You don't worry enough, Tatsuko-san."

Back with Godannar, Anna and Goh were being pummeled as the Beast continued its hit-and-run maneuver against the ultimate robot.

"Shit! At this rate, this thing will get into the city!" Goh could only watch as the Beast continued its relentless assault against both him and his wife.

However, just as they were about to be rammed again, the sudden burst of an explosion hit the carapace of the Beast, distracting from it's rampage and turning it's attention to the source of the attack.

"Over here you big crab alien!" It was Tatsuko!

"T- Tatsuko!" both of Tatsuko's parents were in utter disbelief that their daughter would actually come out to fight.

"T-Tatsuko! You shouldn't be here!" Anna blurted out to her daughter.

Tatsuko boasted in response, "Don't be so weak-willed mom! We're a family, and we're gonna fight like one!"

But her parents had other ideas, "Tatsuko, don't be so reckless! You can't possibly fight against this thing!"

Anna seconded that motion, "Exactly, and especially in THAT robot!"

"Whatever!" Tatsuko jumped off her position and landed on the edge of the Beast's claw, and unleashed a torrent of bombs against the creature, but unfortunately, her attack proved ineffectual.

That did not deter Tatsuko though, she jumped up and landed near the eye of the beast where she punched madly at it before dropping another volley of bombs, only this time the creature recoiled from the attack as it was hit in a sensitive spot.

Tatsuko jumped when the creature flinched due to being imbalanced from Tatsuko's attack.

Tatsuko made a long jump backwards as the Beast tried to jab at her with its claw, however, Tatsuko evaded the attack and did an extremely unbelievable punch which caused the claw to fly towards the joint of the other claw, causing one of the Beast's limbs to be cut out of its body. Both Anna and Goh were amazed at Tatsuko's fighting prowess, but still retained their conviction that it was too dangerous for her to fight the Mimesis.

Tatsuko was doing fine on her own, "All right, just a little more pressure and this guy's-" However, the Mimetic Beast released a powerful shockwave when Tatsuko was about to jump in range for her next attack, blasting her back into a bank of rocks nearby.

"Tatsuko!" Anna was now in panic as she saw her daughter crash hard into the ground.

"Oof, that was close!" Tatsuko and her robot had managed to escape the full brunt of the Beast's attack, however, her robot was badly damaged and its speed and mobility modifications were drastically reduced, as Tatsuko discovered.

"Shit, no frickin' way!"

Tatsuko tried desperately to move out of harm's way, but the Beast, now affixed on Tatsuko, was making its move towards her.

Tatsuko started to panic, "No frickin' way!"

"Tatsuko!" Anna was getting frantic, as was Goh, "Damn it! C'mon Godannar, please move already!"

Just as the Beast was about to completely obliterate Tatsuko beneath its claw, A mysterious jumped in and repelled the attack just in time.

"Huh?" Tatsuko looked up at the figure which saved her from imminent death at the Beast's hands.

"Tatsuko, are you all right?" It was none other than Lou and her robot: the Celle-Blader.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks Lou-san!" Tatsuko was relieved, because she definitely thought she was bacon for a moment.

"Goh! Anna! Can you get back up?" Lou kept the Beast at bay while Godannar attempted to rise up from its resting place where it had been stranded for a time.

The Beast did a horizontal swipe against Celle-Blader, but the latter jumped up and kicked into the monster's eyes. The Beast reeled away from the attack as Celle-Blader jumped away, brandishing a pair of laser blades from the wrists, and jumped on the top side of the Beast's carapace armor, slicing apart the incredibly thick armor as though it was a butter subjected to the blade of a hot knife.

The Beast's exposed vulnerable flesh forced it no other option but to try and flee for its life, however, Goh and Anna weren't about to let him get away, especially after it tried to kill their child.

"Heart BREAKER!" Godannar lunged forward and penetrated the Beast's exposed flesh, immobilizing it in an encasing of some kind of stone.

Then, Godannar rose high into the air, leaving a trail of blue flame in its wake.

"Fire Soul BREAKER!" Godannar descended in a powerful, flame-sheathed diving kick.

The Beast, completely helpless, could only lay still until Godannar crashed down into it, and hard, destroying the creature completely.

Later…

"Tatsuko, how could you just go out and put your life on the line like THAT? Do you have a deathwish!" Anna was so outraged she began shouting things she probably shouldn't.

Tatsuko wasn't at all listening, and Goh was trying to calm his rage-filled wife from blowing up their home.

Elsewhere…

Lou was wandering around town again, all alone and with nothing to do, then she remembered she split from the guy at the restaurant so abruptly, thinking about it now, Lou felt somewhat ashamed of herself for just rudely leaving him without a proper goodbye.

Lou trekked back towards the restaurant, even though she knew he might not be there anymore, she would probably at least try to figure out who he was, the attendant at the restaurant might know.

Lou returned to the restaurant, "All right, now to… huh?" Lou looked through the glass window, and surprisingly enough, he was still there! Holding a cup of grape juice in his hands, waiting right there all this time, "He's still here."

Lou walked back in and approached her companion, where he greeted her with a smile "Hey, you're back, you had me waiting you know."

"I'm sorry, but I just had something really urgent to do, I'm truly sorry for being so rude," Lou bowed her head in apology, her companion just gave her an understanding expression and motioned her to sit down.

The two resumed their meal and conversation, and by day's end, they left the restaurant, content with their meeting, and then parted ways, but before doing so, Lou asked her companion, "I never did catch your name, what is it?"

He looked back at her and replied, "I'm Hana."

"I see, well then, I'll see you again sometime then, Hana?" Lou extended her hand to shake, but Hana had other ideas…

Hana placed his hand upon her chin, and brought her face close to his for a short kiss, then he quickly moved away from her a good distance as quick as a blink and bid her farewell, "Au revoir! Mon cheri…"

He disappeared into the crowd as Lou stood in her spot, bewildered and shocked, she touched her lips, and felt a tinge of pleasure climb into her mind, and a smile form on her face…

One week later…

A massive army of Mimetic Beast had assembled in the pacific, numbering in several hundreds, and possibly more…

However, on a stretch of land near their warpath, a lone figure, draped in shadow by the light of the sun, and holding an ominous frame about itself, readied as he was about to face this insurmountable horde.

"You all really should have called in sick today…"

Holding his weapon, a spear, aloft, he dashed forward, boldly charging into the lion's den with only his skill and his courage to aid him…

End of Episode


	2. Episode 2

**Daishinkon Gattai Godannar Kai**

_Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies_

Episode 2

Atop a mountaintop in an undisclosed part of the world, a great battle erupted.

Celle-Blader, the last remnant of Rosa, the wife of Lou's friend and mentor, Ken was seen gliding down upon the surface of the mountain's face, piloted by the vengeful woman Lou had become.

Chasing after her from above, was the Mimetic Beast guarding the nest located near the mountain they battled upon, it skimmed down the slope in a rugged manner, contrasting Celle-Blader who glided down more gracefully.

The skimming beast changed position for a more free-flowing form, speeding his descent as he chased after Lou.

But Lou was not a person to let these things get to her so easily…

Quickly turning about to meet the swiftly-approaching Beast, Lou jumped over the skimming Beast and lopped off one of its appendages, and then Celle-Blader hopped unto the back of the Beast and grabbed hold of its head with one hand and tugged upwards as the two continued skimming on the mountain.

Finally, Lou plunged the laser blade of her mech's sword right through the back of the beast's head, before carving it right through its body, then jumping off as the Beast continued it's descent, now a mere corpse.

Celle-Blader proceeded towards a wide opening within the mountain, and there, she found a massive nest full of the eggs of the Beasts, Lou readied herself as she looked on at the harmless spheres incubated into the mountain, looking on with a vindictive look at them…

Suddenly, one of the eggs hatched, and a fledgling crawled out…

In the blink of an eye, Lou rushed forward, her weapons primed, and attacked…

Elsewhere…

A group of soldiers were defending the mineral extraction platforms along the English Channel from a Mimetic Beast attack, the entire place was in flames, but most of the damage was done not by the Beasts, but rather by a mysterious assailant attacking the Beasts, "Mac, do you see anything down there?" a soldier on the ground was trying to discern what was going on through the chaos.

The defenders looked at the raging battle, the Beasts were apparently trying to hit something swiftly moving amongst their ranks, but the men on the ground couldn't get a visual on anything, "Negative sir, but something's definitely killing these guys down here."

"Well, whatever's going on in there, I hope it finishes soon, they're totally wrecking the place!"

Dannar Base…

"Another Menage Zero?" Shizuru was slightly apprehensive to think there was another renegade robot pilot operating out of their control like Lou.

Kouji remarked further, "Yeah, we heard a report from the Commissioners from Union Base, stating that a group of Mimetic Beasts were completely decimated off the coast of England, after a long and destructive battle."

"So far, the only people who know of this report are you, me, the Commissioners, and the Aois, no?" Shizuru and Kouji walked down the halls of the Dannar Base discussing this new arrival, as the only "renegade" pilot they know of is Lou Roux, the orphaned daughter of Lowe Roux, Commander of the original Cosmo Base before its tragic demise at the hands of the Mimetic Beasts.

Shizuru spoke, "We can't be certain as to what the pilot's objective is, and if we know for sure that it even is a robot, we still need to figure out where he came from, and what he's after."

Tatsuko was grounded for her rash actions and was duly punished for her disobedience.

Only Mori-kun visited her for the time she was grounded, and brought her favorite treat to console her with, "Tatsu-chan? Are you here?" Mori-kun slowly opened the door to find a somewhat despondent Tatsuko looking out the window of her room, her eyes transfixed towards the horizon.

"Tatsuko, are you all right?" Mori approached his approached his friend.

"Yeah I'm okay…" Tatsuko kept looking out against the horizon out her window, not turning to see Mori-kun.

"You don't sound okay, wanna talk to me with anything?"

Tatsuko gave out a sigh, "I don't get it, I mean, Lou-senpai was a robot pilot at a young age, so why can't I?"

Mori-kun gave a look of exasperation, "Tatsuko, she was only a robot pilot for different circumstances, you on the other hand, don't have any reason to be a pilot, I mean, you were nearly killed!"

"Oh shut up, Mori-kun!"

Mori scratched his head, "Tatsu-chan, I'm just worried about you, you know? And so are your parents."

Tatsuko gave another sigh, "Sorry Mori-kun, but… I really wanna fight with my mom and dad, I mean, I wanna be cool, just like them, but I can't seem to…" she sighed again for a third time.

"I know, Tatsu-chan, but maybe you can still do something worthwhile. Hey, how about we do some RPs again? You always used to play it with me."

Tatsuko looked at him with a faint smile, "Yeah… sure Mori-kun."

Elsewhere…

"You want me to find out more about the New Menage Zero?" Lou looked at Kiriko with a raised brow.

Kiriko cleared her throat and explained, "Something is fighting against the Mimetic Beasts around the world, and we don't know what or who it is, although we can assume he may be doing so out of a vendetta such as you, the fact he has eluded our surveillance might indicate he has some sort of hidden motive. Since you're the only one we can trust on unofficial missions, you're the only one suited for the job."

"… All right, I'll go look around for any leads. I'll report back to you if I find anything," Lou turned about and left.

Entering Celle-Blader, Lou called for Jet Crow to emerge from its hiding spot, and deployed to find out more about the new Menage Zero.

Elsewhere still…

"Keep it back! Keep it Back!" a group of men leading the new Marine Boys, a new line of Boys developed thanks to Shukuyu's new combat control data.

However, the Boys weren't holding quite well against this enemy, it was large, and had the strength of a Leader-type Mimesis, and yet it didn't seem as such, it was fazed by the shots of the Marine Boys, but didn't seem to damage it a single scratch.

With relative ease, he tore apart the Boys in a matter of seconds, and now turned his attention towards the men nearby…

However, before he could do so, a fast approaching interloper had come zooming towards him, bringing a large cloud of dust as he approached.

Just as quickly as it came, it went, but not before it completely obliterated the Mimetic Beast, and quickly vanished without a trace.

The confounded men looked on, confused at what just happened, they looked upon the dead carcass of the beast for a time, before they resumed their earlier work of dispatching the nesting site it guarded, luckily, there were still some Boys left in reserve to finish the job.

Lou had begun her search looking for the New Menage Zero by tracing similar attacks by the unknown assailant, trying to figure out where to expect the next attack, so far, most of his attacks have been at completely random areas, where the Mimesis appear, but so far he had no real pattern to his attacks, just that he attacked the Mimesis at any location, most of them tended to be away from large concentrations of people, such as cities, and he didn't seem to be attacking the nests either, meaning his most recent appearance was just coincidental.

Lou decided to try her luck and try to guess where it might strike next…

Though where and when is her best guess, she traveled along half of Europe before coming to Asia to resume her search. In the Gobi Desert, Lou heard of a Mimetic Beast nest near the vicinity of the region, and, deciding to delay her search for the New Menage Zero for now, went to check out where it might be so she could destroy it.

After coming a few miles, Lou found some old ruins in the desert, left behind hundreds of years ago by the people who lived here and used the Gobi desert as a road for their travels; such a place must surely house the nest.

Lou was about to search inside the ruins, until a great spout of sand burst from the ground and from it another Mimetic Beast emerged, a gargantuan creature resembling a cactus appeared, covered in spines and with multiple eyes across its body as well.

Celle-Blader drew out her weapon, preparing to attack, "All right, you'd better be ready for me, 'cause I'm not gonna be merciful…"

The Mimetic Beast, however, didn't attack, it looked more like it was standing there, waiting for something to come, "Why aren't you moving? You want me to strike first?" Lou thought.

Celle-Blader and the Mimetic Beast didn't move for an hour, although Lou was focused on her opponent, the latter wasn't focused on her, "Why isn't he moving?"

After a while, however, the ground started to tremble, and something else was approaching the area, something fast!

Lou turned to the direction of the rumbling, and saw a great cloud of dust approaching her location, Lou turned to see what was coming in so fast. The Mimetic Beast shot out a volley of spikes towards the oncoming assailant. Unfortunately, it could not stop the blinding fast attacker from easily jumping over and diving towards the Beast, killing it instantly, what happened after that was not visibly comprehensible to Lou, but she could hear loud bursts of power raging out, and explosions so intense one could almost go deaf.

When the fighting ended, Lou turned to what was left of the supposed battlefield, battered and charred beyond recognition, and with no sign of the Beast, or the nest, and even the attacker.

Lou left again wondering what had happened, however, this time she thought she finally had an idea how to trace the assailant, and returned to Dannar Base to file her report.

"Radar signature?"

"Yes, when I was near the area, I was able to get a read-out of his radar frequency, perhaps if we trace the signal when it appears, we may be able to accurately predict where he will attack next," Lou said all of this with absolute confidence it may as well have been a plausible course of action.

"All right then" Kiriko rose from her seat at the desk, "This is so bothersome."

"What is?"

"Nothing, it's just, I have this nagging feeling something is wrong, something is terribly wrong…"

"How so? We know how to fight against the Mimetic Beasts now, and we finally have a cure for the Insania Virus, plus we have the best kind of help we can get…"

"I know Lou, it's just, things are going… a little too smoothly, despite all our cautious efforts, I can't shake the feeling we're being monitored ourselves."

Lou reassured her, "I'm sure you're just stressed, Miss Kiriko, don't worry, I'm sure we'll finally put an end to all this."

"I sure hope so…"

Elsewhere…

Tatsuko and Mori-kun traveled along the Coast near their home, riding along Mori-kun's bike, they enjoyed the fresh, uplifting smell of the sea breeze, so pure, so alive, the atmosphere felt so different from the battles that both the children's parents were fighting in.

Stopping near the pristine white sands, Tatsuko and Mori-kun began playing around in childish glee, not giving a care to the world about their happiness, and friendship.

After a while, Tatsuko's stomach grumbled, "Ehehe, looks like I haven't eaten in a while, Mori-kun, did you bring anything to munch on?"

"Hmm? Well, I did bring some stuff along" Mori-kun proceeded to unwrap a pack he brought along, and inside, he picked out some onigiri, fried chicken, and two bento boxes, "Ah, these look good to eat, you're such a natural at cooking, Mori-kun."

Mori-kun scratched his head, "Hehe, no need to praise me so much, I'm just a little talented, that's all."

"No, Mori-kun, your bentos are the absolute best, why, if I said anything about meals, I would go for yours over my mom's any day!" Tatsuko greedily ate up what Mori-kun offered.

A little sweat formed on Mori's head, "Tatsuko, you shouldn't say that kind of thing, especially if your mom is around."

"Whatever, Mori-kun…" she gave the look of glee at him, not even caring about his advice; Mori just sighed and proceeded to eat his bento.

Up in Cosmo Base, the data of the radar signature was relayed to their onboard computer network, where the Base's staff began scanning for a similar transmission somewhere on Earth, the one Lou found was mostly an incomplete part of a larger encryption, but was enough for the staff to pinpoint a possible area where the New Menage Zero was poised to strike, though it would most likely take a long while…

Lou didn't mind, in fact, she decided to go look around again and see if there was something she could do…

As for Tatsuko and Mori-kun, they decided to continue exploring around the beach they were at, soon, Tatsuko took notice of a small cave entrance nearby, "Hey Mori-kun, let's go in there and see if there's anything inside."

Mori-kun, however, was a bit cautious, "I dunno Tatsuko, it doesn't look very safe, I think maybe we should just go home for now."

But Tatsuko gave him a pouty face, "Mou, you're no fun, Mori-kun."

Then she shined her bare moon at him, bearing the words "NO FUN!" as Mori-kun sweat-dropped, "T-Tatsu-chan…"

The two kids entered, in Mori's case, he did so with caution, and in Tatsuko's, a little more frivolously.

Entering the darkness of the cave, Tatsuko found all manners of sea life wandering around the rocky ground and walls of the cave: clams, crabs, starfish, and the like.

"Haha! You know even if I already know, I still think crabs are funny always walking sideways," Tatsuko laughed a bit mockingly towards the crabs walking about.

Mori-kun was scrounging about the ground, looking for empty shells to collect, "Oh, this one looks nice," Mori went to pick a shell nearby, when all of a sudden, he slipped on a wet rock and fell down a hole.

"Waah!"

Tatsuko rushed to the side of the hole, "Mori-kun! Are you okay?" Tatsuko slid down the slope to see if her friend was all right.

"Oww…" Mori-kun gripped his ankle, "I think I must have sprained it."

"Here let me take a look at it… Mori-kun?" Tatsuko saw Mori-kun glancing at something in the deeper part of the cave, and when she turned, she saw a green glow pulsating from deeper within.

"Ooh, hey Mori-kun, let's see what's in there!" she said excitedly.

He was, however, apprehensive, "I dunno Tatsuko, I mean, isn't the glow a bit, y'know? Ominous?"

Tatsuko paid him little heed and just delved further towards the light source.

Meanwhile…

The sensors of the Dannar Base detected the location of a nearby Nest of Mimetic Beasts.

"We only picked it up now?" Shizuru inquired.

"Yes ma'am, it was buried underground and was rather weak, but then we spotted a trace of its signature as it moved upwards towards the surface."

Shizuru gave the order for the whole Dannar Base to assemble immediately and prepare for battle deployment.

"Goh! Anna, Mira! Report to the Hangar Bay at once!" Shizuru ordered.

"Roger that!" all three reported in, rushing for the hangar.

Arriving in their respective robots, the three pilots and their robots were brought before the launch ramp, getting ready for launch.

Anna's former classmates, who now worked in the Dannar Base as the Base's Main Computer operators, announced to the base in preparation for deployment.

"Dannar is docked at Gate One, Go-Okusaer, docked at Gate two, Neo-Okusaer, docked at Gate Three. Runway all clear. Gate open, gate open, Catapult, check."

"Boost Hook, locked. Jet Boy, ignition!" all three pilots cried out in unison, blasting off from the launch ramp and with their Jet Boys bringing them off to the battlefield.

Elsewhere,

Lou looked at her onboard computer screen, and saw that Dannar Base was heading for a location nearby, having detected another Mimetic Beast zone; she prepped her Celle-Blader and Jet Crow for battle.

Dannar, Neo-Okusaer, and Go-Okusaer had arrived at the scene, and there, thrashing about in a fury, was a large, ape-like Mimesis, roaring loudly and breaking out of the cliff-face which was its abode.

"All right, Jet Boy! Gear down!" the 3 robots deployed into battle against the ape-like monster.

The Beast, having noticed their arrival, turned away from the area he was seemingly bashing with mindless fervor, turned towards the 3 robots. Mira was the first to approach it, "Gravity Bomber!" she unleashed her special attack on the Beast, hoping to immobilize it, however, the Beast just suddenly jumped out of the Gravity Bomber's constriction, then it ran towards them on all fours, summoning a large, bony, cone-shaped protrusion with tiny holes around it from his back, it then fired some green spores, which, when it struck the ground near the robots, exploded into powerful bursts, causing the bots to scramble.

"Guh, this one looks really thick," Mira commented.

"Yeah, this'll probably take long, wait, there's some human life-signs nearby," when Goh checked, he scanned around the area near the beach and saw Tatsuko and Mori-kun.

"What! Tatsuko? Mori-kun? What are you doing here!" Anna shrieked at the sight of her daughter and her friend.

Earlier…

"Tatsuko! We should be getting out of here; I don't like the look of that eerie green glow."

Tatsuko simply gave Mori-kun a playful look, "Oh, c'mon Mori-kun, I'm sure there's nothing to get all- Aaah!" Tatsuko had slipped and fell down towards the rocks at the bottom, "Tatsuko!" Mori-kun descended down after her, and checked to see if she was all right.

"Tatsu-chan, are you okay?" Mori-kun helped her get back up.

"Thanks Mori-kun," Tatsuko looked at her friend, who bore some kind of dreaded expression towards the inner part of the cave, "Mori-kun, what are you looking at?" and when she turned, Tatsuko saw a large, vast hollow within the cave, and resting amongst the cavern rocks was the source of the strange bioluminescent green glow: hundreds upon thousands of Mimetic Beast eggs!

"Uh… Tatsuko, maybe we should just get out of here," Mori-kun tugged upon her arm, motioning her to follow with him, "Well… okay Mori-kun."

The two children walked away towards an opening in the walls which led upwards.

However, as they were just entering through the exit, the unexpected occurred: Tatsuko suddenly farted!

The loud (and somewhat embarrassing) sound of her passing gas echoed through the great hollow of the cavern, "Tatsuko!" Mori-kun came up to her to reprimand her for farting at a time like this, "Relax mori-kun, I bet there isn't any Mimesis nearby that could possibly wake up and suddenly go on a rampage for us…"

Suddenly, the cavern started quaking, the rumbling of a fast-approaching creature could be heard running through the cave, and both kids knew it was time to split.

"Run!" Mori-kun grabbed Tatsuko's hand as the large ape-like Mimetic Beast guarding the nest had been stirred awake by Tatsuko's noise.

Back to the battle…

Tatsuko had apparently fallen unconscious, and now Mori-kun carried her body in his arms, bridal-style, and attempted to escape the collapsing ruins of the cavern when the Beast went on its rampage.

The Beast, having seen the original source of the disturbance to its vigil, aimed its "spore gun" at Mori and Tatsuko.

Both Go-Okusaer and Neo-Okusaer both came up near the children and released the "Angel Wall" force field to protect the children from the Beast's shot.

"Mori-kun, you go get Tatsuko out of here! We'll handle this guy!" Goh bellowed.

"Right!" Mori-kun scrambled up the rocks and back towards his bike while the robots turned to engage the Beast.

Seeing its current opponents, the Beast fired a blast from his spore gun at Dannar. Goh retaliated, launching his "Counter Knuckle" to intercept the shot, as the two attacks made contact, the spores released by the reaction sent their deadly projectiles back at the Mimetic Beast.

"Did I get him?" Goh looked at the smoke emanating from the impact of his counter-attack, however, the Beast, unfazed, broke through the smoke, hurtling itself towards Dannar and ramming the robot with its shoulder.

"Goh-chin!" Anna went to check on her husband to see if he was all right, while Mira went and faced the Beast next.

"Damn you!" Neo-Okusaer rushed forward to attack, the Beast jabbed his arm forward, but Neo-Okusaer gracefully flipped over the attack and Drop Kicked him upside the head.

She resumed her attack with another kick to its gut, and then clasped her heels between its face as she slammed it down to the ground.

"How'd you like that?" Mira's victory was short lived as the Beast rose back up and flung her aside with a single swipe.

"Mira!" Anna had no time to even fight back as the Beast rushed at her with all speed and rammed her on the robot's belly.

"Grr… this guy is tough" Goh remarked, with Dannar rising up.

The Beast rushed at Dannar with all fury cast into his arm, poised to strike the robot down with one fell swoop, however, the deathblow was cut short by the timely arrival of reinforcements: Lou and Celle-Blader.

Lou rushed in, flying from Jet Crow, sliced out the Spore gun from the Beast, disarming it of its most powerful weapon.

"Goh, now!" Lou cried.

"Right, Anna!" Dannar turned to its partner unit, Go-Okusaer.

"Right Goh-chin!" Then the two robots engaged into pre-fusion mode, preceded by the phrase "Drive Change, GO!"

The two robots flew upwards in unison, then conjoined together as Go-Okusaer inserted into Dannar when the latter's chest opened allowing the Okusaer unit to enter inside for the fusion.

"Revolver, OPEN!" Go-Okusaer locked into place as several revolving chambers opened up across Dannar's body, finally, Dannar's hue changed from red to blue to finish the transformation.

"Godannar! Twin Drive!"

"All right, let's go!" "Yeah!" Anna and Goh were getting pumped up!

The Beast looked at Godannar, and then it rushed with a readied fist at the robot, lunging at Godannar.

Godannar responded with a "Spiral Fire" technique that caused the Beast to be repulsed from his attack, then, right after ending its technique, Godannar rushed in with his pre-finisher, "Heart Breaker!" digging his massive fist into the body of the Beast, followed by Anna pulling a trigger firing a mechanism inside Godannar's arms, the device penetrated the Beast's skin and inserted a powerful reagent into the Beast's body.

The reagent reacted with the Beast's internal biological composition, and in that instant, the Beast's body turned into a hard, solid substance like plaster, Godannar then withdrew his fist from the Beast's body, and then flew up into the sky to strike the killing blow.

"Fire Soul Breaker!" Anna and Goh shouted in unison as Godannar, wreathed in blue flames, descended down in a diving kick to finish the Mimetic Beast.

However, the Beast, stronger than expected, partially managed to move swiftly from Godannar's attack even while in a state of paralysis, although only barely able to do so as the impact of Godannar hitting solid Earth was enough to cause minor concussive damage upon it.

"No way… it dodged our attack!" Anna and Goh were surprised by how this Beast managed to dodge their finisher, even when paralyzed.

Godannar readied for another finisher at the crippled Beast, however, their robot's energy reserves had now almost completely depleted, and they were no longer capable of performing their finisher without a recharge to their internal power batteries.

However, Lou, seeing as they were unsuccessful at doing so, decided to finish the beast herself, striking out quickly while the enemy laboriously attempted to get back up, and was subsequently diced into numerous bits before disintegrating into tinier pieces.

"Well, that finishes that…" Lou concluded her business here was done and summoned Jet Crow to take her elsewhere.

Moments later, a group of Marine Boys arrived, armed with heavy weapons to destroy the Nest, allowing Anna, Goh, and Mira to return to Base to recuperate.

Elsewhere still…

Somewhere in the world, someone was having a nightmare, one which haunts him as a ghost floating erratically, telling him tales of murder and sin with a hollow tone of voice, twitching his body and joints from time-to-time, hiding his pallid face under his hood, unfortunately, this nightmare was short, as the victim awoke from the apparition of dreams.

"Are you all right?" said a voice speaking to him from his surroundings, "I'm all right. I just had that dream again."

"I see, in any case, I've picked up his signal again, and recently he's begun moving near more populated areas from the recent scouting."

"Yeah, maybe we should cut-back on tracking it for a while, one of these days we'll attract unnecessary attention, and I don't think the boss will like that."

"Perhaps so, but maybe we can continue a little while longer, my statistical movement and maneuvering navigator should keep some heads turned away from us a little longer."

"All right, but only for a few more weeks, and then we lay low for a time"

"Affirmative" the disembodied computer voice fell silent as the machine and the passenger abiding within stirred awoke, ready to continue the hunt…

**End of Chapter**


	3. Episode 3

Daishinkon Gattai Godannar Kai

Episode 3

"We're almost at the target, he should be here somewhere in the canyon…"

"Good, this time, he won't get away," The pilot of the new Menage Zero moved through a canyon on his robot, moving along the brown sandy carvings of Earth and grassy pastures.

"Incoming!" A great big thing broke through the walls of the canyon, sending large debris and burying the robot in it.

The Beast hiding within lay down triumphantly over the pile of dirt, seemingly mocking the robot, however, a burst of light shot from beneath the rubble, and a large spear shot out, impaling the Beast and killing it instantly as the spear pierced right through its head.

Despite his victory, the pilot of the robot seemed dissatisfied with their prey.

"This isn't the one, looks like he left another decoy for us…"

"Yes, it appears he knows exactly where we are going and predicting where we are tracking him… it's a little bit odd, even for a Mimetic Beast."

"True."

"Maybe we should lay low for a while; our activities are beginning to gain a bit more attention."

"Right, let's rest up and head back."

Elsewhere…

Late one night, Tatsuko was in her family's garage, fixing up and modifying her beaten robot back to full fighting strength, just then, her garage door opened, "Who is it?"

"It's Mori-kun."

"Come in."

Mori-kun entered her garage and looked at Tatsuko place a new arm on her robot, repairing the engine, and giving a fresh new paintjob.

"Working on your robot again?" he asked.

Tatsuko replied, "Yeah, life is so much simpler when you're fixing up broken robots."

"Hmm… you're quite attached to robotics aren't you?"

"Uh-huh, you could say that robotics is an extension of my own mind, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else in my spare time other than my garage."

Mori-kun continued looking at her work, he had mixed feelings about how Tatsuko was so dedicated to robotics, she often put herself in harm's way with her reckless use of the robots she made, especially when she tried to fight a Mimetic Beast with it, on the other hand, Tatsuko loved robotics, and one of the main reasons he and her are such good friends was because his parents were part of a robotics company, he didn't know whether he should be supportive or anxious about her hobbies and vigor for it.

"You know Tatsuko, I bet I could get you into Dannar Base's virtual robot training center if you'd like."

Tatsuko turned to him, "Sure, just hold on while I put on some finishing touches and I'll come along."

Later…

Tatsuko and Mori-kun were at the Dannar Base, sneaking into the combat simulator from right under every staff member's nose.

Mori-kun went over to the control panel, telling Tatsuko to get inside and get ready.

"Okay Tatsuko, ready? I'm gonna put it at a moderate level," Mori-kun signaled Tatsuko to tell him when to initiate.

"Fire away, Mori-kun!"

Elsewhere, Lou was out in the streets again, wandering around in the cold of the night, using the chill she was feeling at that moment to keep her mind off her past, as it continually seeped into her thoughts.

Pulling her coat tighter, Lou waded through the crowds of people in the street, until she accidentally hit someone, "Ah, s-sorry about that…"

She looked up and saw a familiar face, "Hana?"

Hana looked at her with surprise, "Lou, we meet again, what a pleasant surprise."

Lou looked at him pleasantly, "I'm glad to see you too Hana, what are you doing here?"

"I'm heading over to a recently opened amusement park nearby to stretch my legs and have fun, wanna come with me?"

Realizing that she didn't want to be alone and also so as to forget her troubles, Lou acquiesced, "Sure thing."

"That's great!"

Hana guided Lou over to the place where the amusement park was, he seemed very excited to bring her along.

Much later, at the amusement park, Hana brought Lou over to some of the attractions located there, "Over here Lou, wanna try the pie-throwing contest?"

Lou was being passive, "I don't know."

"Oh c'mon, we're here to have fun, now stop being so taciturn and come over here," Then he dragged her by the arm to the stand, "Hey, don't pull so hard, gyaah!"

Lou tripped and she fell face first on one of the pies on the stand.

"O-oops…"

Lou got up, her face full of pie-cream; she wiped off some of the cream from her face and faced Hana, looking a bit angry.

"Uh… sorry about that, Lou, if you want, we could…" But before he could finish, Lou took the same pie and slammed it in his face. After she took it out and saw Hana with his face full of cream, she burst out laughing, "Serves you right! Ahaha!"

Hana just laughed along with her; afterwards the store owner gave them some towels to wipe the cream off.

Later, the two went joyriding on the various plethora of amusement rides, like the roller coaster, merry-go-round, swinging pirate ship, the troika, etc…

Afterwards they decided to go try their hand on getting a prize, or rather, Hana wanted to try getting a prize for Lou.

"Hana, it's all right, I don't need any."

"How about just one? Please?"

"Well… okay, but just one."

Hana started looking around the stands looking for something to find, then he happened upon one which had all kinds of nice plushies that had an eye-candy appeal.

"Okay, we'll try this one," Hana saw that it was a dartboard game, with three boards, each, the proprietor explained that the different toys are worth different points earned by hitting a different section of the dartboards. Hana, however, challenged the proprietor, asking that if he can hit all three boards on the mark at the same time, if he can do it, the proprietor will instead give him any toy of his choosing.

"Isn't that a bit much, Hana?"

"Relax Lou, you'll see what I'm made of."

Hana grabbed three darts, holding them like a ninja, then, with a single toss, he threw all three darts and, much to both the proprietor's and Lou's shock, all hit their mark accurately.

Afterwards, Hana looked around looking for a suitable prize to give to Lou, and then he chose one orange-colored frog toy.

Afterwards, the two decided for some quiet time at the top of the Ferris wheel. They both looked down silently on the earth below; everything seemed so perfect, especially for Lou.

Then it finally hit Lou, "Hana…"

"Hmm? What is it Lou?"

"Why are you going so far to have me have fun? I mean, we don't really know that much about each other, and here you are treating me like I was your friend for years. Why?"

Hana looked at her, then put on a bemused face, then turned towards the window again, before explaining to her.

"It's in your eyes, Lou…"

"My… eyes?"

"I can see that in your soul, you've lost quite a lot, that which you treasure most, and that which you've been closest too. Lou, what I'm saying is, you're practically walking with a wound in your heart so deep, you can do nothing but wallow in the blood of that wound of grief."

Lou was surprised, although he couldn't have known the details, Hana had delved into her very being without even asking, and so deep was he into understanding her that she was practically speechless.

Hana reached out and took her hands, "Lou, I know you're hurting inside, so, I just wanted to help."

Lou turned away from him, "I… I'm sorry Hana, but, I don't think you'd be able to help me in any way."

Hana put on a sad smile, "I see, well, I guess I should apologize for having to put you through this."

Lou glanced at him, "No, it's all right, I guess, it should really be me thanking you, for trying to help anyway."

Afterwards, the two walked together out of the park, strolling along the side-walk silently, neither wanting to speak to the other.

After a while, they came upon a path that split in two directions, and both had to go separate ways now.

"I guess this is where we part ways," Hana was going on ahead, "I'll see you around Lou."

"Hana…"

Hana turned around to look at her, "Yeah?"

Lou rushed over to him and kissed him on the cheek ever so softly, and this caught Hana by surprise, "Wha-?"

Lou just giggled, "That's for pecking on my cheek last time, oh and, thanks for today, even though it's probably nothing, I'm glad you tried to help me anyway. Bye!"

Lou ran off in the opposite direction, leaving Hana standing there, bemused, "Lou…"

The next day…

Kiriko was debriefing the two pilots of Godannar regarding the Menage Zero, "Goh, Anna, we've managed to pinpoint the location of our mysterious new competition, and I need you to seek him out."

"What do you think his objective is? The same as Ken's?" Anna asked.

Goh replied, "We won't know for sure, only by meeting him will we really know what he's up to."

Goh and Anna suited up and left for the Dannar Base launch bay, ready to go.

After all signs pointed at green, two Jet Boy units were mounted on the couple's robots.

"GO!" They shouted in unison as Dannar and Go-Okusaer launched off from the ramp and flew towards their mission.

After a few hours, Dannar and Neo Okusaer arrived at their destination, the rocky base of a small mesa; this was where the computer analysts predicted the Menage Zero might appear next.

"They said it was here, right Goh-chin?"

"Yeah, but no one's here now."

The couple waited in the area for a while, when a terrible rumbling suddenly erupted around them, "Wha-? Goh-chin, what's happening?"

Suddenly, a giant Mimesis emerged from the ground, it was as huge as the Leader Beast Goh and Anna defeated so many years ago.

"Damn, that's way too big for an ordinary Mimetic Beast, are they already preparing another big invasion?"

The Beast swiped a large tentacle at Goh, who was thrown towards the mesa's wall.

"Goh-chin!" Anna was about to get hit as well, but she easily jumped it and turned towards the Beast.

"Dimension Sniper!" Anna fired her special attack and threw the creature off for a moment

"Goh, are you all right?" The Dannar managed to get back up and joined with Go-Okusaer.

"Anna, let's finish this guy quick!"

"Okay!" Both Dannar and Go-Okusaer re-configured their bodies in preparation for their fusion.

"Drive Change, GO!" Neo-Okusaer combined into Dannar's open chest area, and finished the transformation into the flaming giant: Godannar

"Godannar, Twin Drive!"

The Beast roared loudly as Godannar moved to confront it.

"Here we go!" Godannar lunged forward, the Beast responded by lashing out a tentacle at the robot, but Godannar kicked it out of the way.

Godannar moved in close to its face and delivered two jabs and a somersault kick, sending it flying back a ways.

Godannar then continued with a powerful tackle on its chest, then jumping up and doing a drop kick again on the head.

The Beast, no matter how many beatings it took, was only dazed shortly by the attack, but wasn't in pain.

"Damn, Goh-chin, it looks like no matter what we do, we can't even put a dent on it!"

"So it seems, I guess we'll just have to use our best ace in the hole, you ready Anna?"

Anna seemed distracted, "Anna? What's wrong?"

"Goh-chin, that Beast looks like it's looking at something."

Indeed, the creature was facing away in another direction, Godannar faced where it was looking and saw a blinding light rushing right towards them.

"Goh, what is that?"

"I dunno Anna, but it's getting closer!"

The glowing sphere of light rushed closer when it suddenly jumped up and descended down on the Beast.

The creature responded by releasing a powerful shockwave which apparently caused the mysterious light to lose balance.

The light dimmed as the Beast struck it again, and nearly hit the source of the light, causing to stumble another way.

It was at this point that the light faded and the being hiding inside was revealed, partially damaged as well.

"G-Goh-chin… is that…?"

"That shape…" Both Anna and Goh were at awe at what they say, the silhouette of that mysterious robot.

The Mimetic Beast, taking advantage of this development, opted for a hasty getaway, whilst the mysterious robot disappeared yet again, having drawn too much attention.

Later…

Lou had just finished taking a shower, and came out towards her bed, wrapped in her towel, and she laid down, tired and a bit emotional. She thought about her father, then about Ken, and then… Hana.

Deep in her heart, Lou felt an ominous dread grow in her. She felt a growing feeling of attraction towards Hana, and she didn't like it, not at all, after all, two males whom she cared for in life, her father, and Ken, had already died, and she didn't want the same thing to happen to him.

She reached for the toy Hana gave her and hugged it tightly.

"Hana… please, if you truly want to help me, get out of my life… permanently."

As she said this to herself, a single tear trickled down her chin, although she wanted him out of her life, after what's happened today, she also doesn't want that to happen either.

Tired and confused about her feelings, she gave in to sleep, allowing the peace of a good rest to settle over her.

Elsewhere, Kiriko began analyzing the data of what Goh and Anna had found, this was to be a major step in what they could do next.

"With Ken's death, it should have been certain that rogue elements in the hunt for Mimetic Beasts would be over, I guess that was a sorely miscalculated guess."

On a monitor, Kiriko analyzed the silhouette of the mysterious rogue robot, which bore a remarkable resemblance to Ken's Blade Gainar. Curiously though, it was a white color, with a spear being it's most distinct weapon…

"That was a good practice Mori-kun."

"Good practice? You almost put the entire machine on overdrive! Do you know how much money could have been lost if you went on further!"

"Ah who cares! Besides, all those dummy targets can be summed up by one thing."

"What are you talking about?"

Tatsuko then turned her back to him, and then she shamelessly flashed her butt, with the words "Lower than this level" printed quite clearly upon both cheeks.

"T-Tatsuko…" Mori-kun was almost convinced she was insane.

End of Episode


	4. Episode 4

**Daishinkon Gattai Godannar Kai**

Episode 4

Several Mimetic Beasts had converged upon a mineral platform out in the middle of the ocean just outside Australia. Several of them burst out of the water, all desiring the stocks of resources inside that would enrich and strengthen them.

"Caspian 7! Caspian 7! Do you have a status report!"

"The Mimetic Beasts are all over the entire area; our Fat Boy units are having trouble keeping them under control!"

One of the creatures rose up and tried to attack the site's control tower, but before it could, Celle-Blader suddenly jumped in and saved the crew before it could kill them.

One of the aircraft outside kept track of her movements as Lou moved in to engage the horde of Mimetic Beasts attacking the platform.

"Attention, unidentified pilot, state your identity right this instant!"

Lou didn't listen, Celle-Blader dashed headlong into the crowd of monsters and began cutting them up with little concern for the extensive damage that she was inflicting upon the base itself.

"Unbelievable! The Menage Zero is really a frightening pilot! But… this is too damaging for Caspian 7, someone, stop her!"

Some of the Fat Boys that were available rushed towards Celle-Blader to stop her rampage, Lou was nearly hit when one of them tried to ram her, "Getting in my way? Fine!"

Lou turned her rage upon the Boys and anyone else that dared get near her, the battle was beginning to get out of hand…

Later…

"Yesterday, a swarm of beasts had attacked the mineral platform, Caspian 7, off the coast of Australia. Reports from the site confirmed that the unidentified renegade robot, the Menage Zero, was seen at the battle, massacring the attackers but also turning against the base's defensive robots. Damage on both sides was excessive, to say the least, and as of now, we have no estimates as to the cost of this attack, in other news…"

The monitor turned off before the reporter could finish, and soon, a lot of heads turned towards Lou.

"I know we let you operate freely, but allowing for such extensive property damage is more than excessive, isn't it?" Kiriko stated.

Lou didn't say a word.

Goh stepped forward, "Lou, you need to calm yourself in these battles, you do realize people could get hurt."

"I know that." Lou replied.

Anna seemed annoyed by Lou's attitude right now, "Look, Lou, I know you want to destroy all the Mimetic Beasts, but haven't you had enough? When will you stop being such a big baby!"

Lou slapped Anna across the face, everyone looked at them in surprise, "You're just arrogant 'cause you have your happy ending with Goh!"

"L-Lou…"

"Just… Just… Leave me alone!" Lou ran away.

"Lou!"

Lou ran back to her room, and locked her door, and laid down on her bed, crying, "You guys don't know anything… you still don't understand how I feel…" Suddenly, she saw the orange frog Hana had given her, "Hana… surely you know how I really feel right now…' She hugged her toy tightly, wishing that Hana was who she was really hugging, she knows he would make her feel all better, that's all he's done for her and she was truly grateful for it.

"Road Trip!" Boomer started laughing maniacally as he held an inflatable dolphin on the window of their RV.

"Mutsuki, we're going to go look for the nest on this?"

"Yup, I figure traveling light will be easier for us, so I decided to bring out this old gorgeous."

"Well, I suppose you make sense about that, but wouldn't it be more prudent to have someone watch over our backs while we do?"

"And who do you have in mind, Jimmy?" Mutsuki asked.

"Well…"

"A special assignment?" Lou seemed perplexed.

"Yes, it seems, Mutsuki Oyamada, of Oyamada Technical, requires an escort while he surveys a Mimetic Beast nest that he discovered." Kiriko explained.

"Why would he want to survey one of their nests? More importantly, why me?"

"Mutsuki thinks that the Mimetic Beasts are undergoing some kind of change, and he wants to investigate it firsthand. As for why I chose you, Lou, I think maybe following someone's lead might give you some new perspective."

"New perspective?"

"I'm sure you'll get the idea after this experience, now, will you get going?"

"Yes, ma'am…"

Later…

Lou met up with Mutsuki and his team of misfits, gathered around their RV, Lou arrived on Celle-Blader shortly afterwards. She did not leave her robot, instead calling out to Mutsuki from inside.

"Mister Oyamada! I'm here as per request of Dannar Base."

"Wow, I had asked for an escort, but I never thought we'd get the services of the Menage Zero herself."

"Listen, I'm only doing this as a favor, don't get any ideas."

"Whatever, anyway, we're already prepared to leave, so I suppose we can move out now."

During the journey, one of the boys accompanying Mutsuki, Spike, was trying to open a bag of chips, unfortunately, he accidentally ripped too hard and the chips spilled everywhere, their driver, Jimmy, was dissed, "Spike! Can't you be more careful with those bags of snacks you got?" Then everyone started bickering before Mutsuki shut them up while he was trying out his radio.

After a couple of hours traveling the road, Mutsuki was finally able to make it work, "Hello? Lou? Are you there?"

"I read you, loud and clear."

"Good, we should make it to the target area in a few days, over and out."

"Do you think we can trust her, Mutsuki?" asked another one of the boys, Takeru.

"This is all a part of the plan, don't you fret none."

Later, after sundown, the team decided to make camp for the night.

Lou made her own camp some meters next to theirs. She made it clear that she didn't want to associate with them and keep their relationship strictly professional and platonic.

Boomer spoke up first around their little campfire, "Bit of the ice queen, isn't she, Mutsuki?"

Mutsuki nodded, "Took the words right out of my mouth. She needs to lighten up."

"Maybe if we bring her something to eat, she'll want to join us?" Takeru suggested.

"Good idea, and I know just who to do that." Mutsuki looked towards Spike.

Spike pointed to himself in disbelief.

Lou was busy handling something near her camp, she hardly noticed Spike approaching her with a bowl of food. He tapped her lightly on the shoulder

Lou jumped at this sudden encroachment, and quickly covered up what she was handling beneath a tarp, "Y-yes?"

Spike extended a bowl of chili co carne to her, not saying a word.

"I'm not hungry." Lou replied.

Spike made an insisting gesture, and did not look like he would back out.

Lou decided to take the bowl, she figured there would be no harm in taking up a generous offer, "Well, thanks, I suppose. You're not exactly the talkative type, are you?"

Spike made another gesture with his hands, and Lou understood what he was trying to convey, "Oh, you're… mute?"

Spike nodded.

"Well, thanks for the meal, I appreciate the gesture."

Spike smiled and returned back to the boys' camp, but not before bowing respectfully to her.

After a little while, the boys were busy telling stories and the like to each other. Lou dropped by their chatter to return the bowl she was given, she gave a brief thanks for it, and turned back towards her own camp.

Boomer tried calling for her to come back, "Wait, why not join us, it's more fun if there are more people."

Lou paused for a moment, but continued walking away, "No."

"Soft-spoken, isn't she? She could use a couple of friends to perk her up." Boomer remarked.

Mutsuki looked towards Boomer, "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll lighten up to us eventually."

Come morn, the motley crew of explorers left to finish their journey to the nesting site in question. Once there, the team began unfurling their equipment and getting ready to go down.

Mutsuki tuned to Lou's communicator in her robot, "Okay Lou, we're going down there to check things out, don't go blasting this place to smithereens until we've finished a thorough examination. Are we clear?"

"Crystal" Lou replied matter-of-factly.

But she had other ideas, Lou had secretly brought several pounds of high-yield plastic explosives with her, which she intended to use to blow the entire nest up to high hell. Knowing Mutsuki wouldn't allow her to attack it right away; she decided to destroy it without his knowledge in case something goes awry.

Mutsuki and the other boys had left through the large crevice in search of the nest, while Lou remained outside, giving her ample time to prepare.

"Even if you die, Mutsuki, if I can destroy this place, your death will at least not be a total waste." She thought, although she's not that cruel as to place a life she was entrusted with to die, at the present circumstance, Mutsuki's life was rather trivial at this point.

After she was done preparing her gear, it was not a moment too soon when suddenly, some kind of distress signal coming from her comm., "Mutsuki? Are you all right? What's happened?"

It was Boomer, "Lou! Help! Something's got Mutsuki, he's being taken away through something!"

"I'll be right there!"

Lou entered her Celle-Blader and packed in the explosives. After that, she descended down into the darkness to see what was happening.

She saw Boomer and all the other boys, save for Mutsuki, rush out of the cavern, "Where's Mutsuki!" she demanded.

"He was caught in some kind of tendril!" Boomer took a moment to catch his breath, "We don't know what's happened to him!"

"All right, I'll go in and try to find him," Celle-Blader prepared to explore in deeper in the giant underground hollows, "You just prepare some first-aid when I come back!"

"Okay! Just so you know, Mutsuki still has his comm, but we haven't been able to reach him yet!"

"Understood, I'll try to reach him as soon as I'm able."

Lou began hovering through the creepy, dank hollows of this underground area, looking for something. Boomer mentioned Mutsuki was grabbed by something… a tendril?

She didn't know what to make of it, all she knew was that she had to find Mutsuki, and blow this place up.

Speaking of blowing it up, Lou activated her robot's scanners to look for a good point to place her explosives, someplace that can cause the entire cave to collapse under the nest and finish the Beasts off in a single stroke.

Suddenly, her comm activated, "Hello!" a few coughing sounds were heard before resuming, "Is anyone there!"

"Mutsuki? Where are you? What's happened?" Lou shouted.

"Miss Roux? I'm… trapped in some kind of tube," more coughing, "I dunno what's going on, Oh God no, leave me alone!" Lou suddenly lost contact.

"Mutsuki? Mutsuki! Damn it!"

Suddenly, a pair of Mimetic Beasts suddenly bore down on her, screeching a warning cry, "What the-?"

Celle-Blader jumped away from a swipe of the creature's claw just in time, and then rushed in to stab it in the gut, before running the blade through its torso and through the head, killing it instantly.

The other beast tried to move in for the kill, skidding on its belly to catch Blader by the legs, but Lou somersaulted over the attacking creature, landing with force upon its back and temporarily pinning it into ground, before impaling the monster's brain with a blade.

Lou resumed her attempt to locate Mutsuki, suddenly, she came across a strange tendril-like object lined on the ground, parts of it were covered in a hard, crusty substance, like cooked clay, other bits showed a transparent membrane containing a rushing fluid inside.

"What is this thing?" Lou examined it closely, before seeing Mutsuki suddenly pass through it, "Miss Roux, help!"

"Mutsuki!" Lou followed the trail of the tendril, however, she lost track when it sank into a hole she could not follow.

"Mutsuki! Do you still read me?" Lou shouted over the comm.

"Yeah, I'm still here," he started coughing again, "I'm, going towards… I can't see clearly… some kind of… larder?"

"Don't worry, I'll find you, just hang in there!"

Lou continued searching around the cave, trying to find a lead, until she came in one chamber filled with Mimetic Beast eggs, "Whoa, it looks like I've come across the mother lode."

Putting her search for Mutsuki on hold, Lou looked around, until she saw what she was looking for, a large pillar near the center of the chamber.

Quickly, she approached it, and began setting up her explosives near the base, Lou pondered if she brought enough, but it was adequate. After that, she set a timer to count down the remaining hours she had left to find Mutsuki and get the hell out of here.

"All right, let's see if he's anywhere nearby…" Lou turned on a monitor to check and see if there were any human life signs in the vicinity, "Nothing yet… I better keep looking."

Suddenly, she came across a massive underground chamber, much larger than the one with the nest. She hid herself and her robot behind a wall and looked out.

There, nestled in the corner of the hollow, was a massive, bloated Mimetic Beast, sitting like a toad in the dark corner. Its huge "belly" appeared to have been made of the same membrane Mutsuki was trapped in.

A thought suddenly crossed Lou's mind, and she had her scanners check, and there he was, trapped somewhere swirling in it's belly.

Mutsuki suddenly called again from the comm., "Miss Roux… help…"

"Hold on, Mutsuki, I'm coming!" Lou suddenly rushed inside the massive area, shouting out a battle cry to get the creature to take notice.

Notice it did, for suddenly, one of its massive tentacles lashed out to try and attack her. Lou ducked under it quickly and cut the tentacle off its body.

The lazy-looking creature suddenly seemed to have gotten a second wind, as it suddenly pulled up all of its tentacles to attack her with en masse. Lou expertly navigated the mass of wiry arms writhing to lash her, but so far it wasn't doing a very effective job.

Lou slashed five apart, and they were out of commission, then 20 more converged, molding together into a giant tendril that tried to punch her, but the Blader instead jumped over and ran the length of the appendage before slashing it off at the base of where they converged. The beast howled in pain.

Lou jumped up towards its head, aiming to finish it off as quickly as she could. However, the beast had one more trick up its sleeve. It opened its four eyes and shot out four yellow blasts of energy at her, Lou barely managed to dodge the attack which scraped Blader's shoulder.

"Damn that was close!" the beast fired again, and Lou dodged it before the beam could strike Celle-Blader's leg, "All right, if that's how you want it!"

The monster charged up for another beam attack, Celle-Blader activated is back thrusters and jumped high into the air, the beast fired its eye beams which cut a large fissure into the cavern walls, the Blader jumped far over the head of the beast, where its beam could no longer reach her.

This was what Lou was aiming for, however, and soon, large chunks of debris fell on its head and eyes. The creature was forced to scratch the rubble out of its vision, but that was all Lou needed. Rushing towards its massive belly, Celle-Blader cut the creature through the gut, causing the viscous slime to pour down to the hollow floor; the sudden discharge of its body fluid caused the creature to forcibly bend down from the change in body mass. Blader took the opportunity and stabbed both of her wristblades through the creature's head, and penetrating its brain.

After the battle, Lou dove into the lake of slime to look for Mutsuki, eventually pulling him up to breathable air after a couple of minutes.

"Mutsuki! Are you all right?" she said while gasping for air and dragging Mutsuki to Celle-Blader.

Mutsuki coughed some time before speaking, "Yes, I'm fine, thanks for getting me out of there."

Lou helped Mutsuki climb out onto the cockpit of her robot, and then prepped Blader to get out of the cavern.

Suddenly, Mutsuki remembered something, "Wait, I have to find my samples!"

"We have no time; we have to get out of here!" Lou exclaimed.

"But…!" Mutsuki was cut short when an explosion suddenly rocked the entire cavern, "My explosives…" Lou thought.

"What just happened!" Mutsuki exclaimed.

Lou had no time to respond, instead, she powered up her robot and cut her way through the roof of the cavern as everything started collapsing around them, and she had no intention to be buried.

Lou activated the back thrusters of her robot and proceeded to fly through a wide hole that opened up just above, in spite of some difficulty due to the falling rocks, she is able to navigate out of the cavern as everything fell down around her, finally reaching out into open air.

"We made it!" Lou looked to her side, the shock of the escape had been too much for Mutsuki, and the poor boy was out cold, "I better take him to the guys."

Later…

"I saved your life, show some appreciation…"

Mutsuki, however, was silently upset, "You destroyed the nest without my permission… you've thwarted us from finding out any new knowledge about the Mimetic Beasts."

Lou was feeling somewhat upset, "I saved YOUR life! You were going to get killed and I bailed your ass out of there!"

Mutsuki was firm, but kept his voice down, "And I thank you for that, however, I did not ask for you to destroy the nest before we could find anything from it, you've hindered our research and…" Lou stood up from her seat, "…wait, where are you going?"

"I'm leaving…" Lou said coldly, before exiting out through the door.

Lou was brooding as she walked through the hallway leading outside, "What an asshole…"

Suddenly, she bumped into someone, "Ow! Oh sorry, I didn't see… Hana?"

Lou was surprised to find Hana here, and he was surprised to find her here as well, "Lou? What are you doing here?"

"I… should be asking you the same thing."

"I work here" he replied curtly.

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"Yes well, I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"Where are you going?"

"To see Mutsuki."

"You two know each other? I mean, aside from the fact you work for him?" Lou asked.

"He's my best friend."

Lou was a bit surprised to hear this, "I… I see…"

"It's so great to see you again, how about I give you a tour of our facilities?"

Lou shook her head, "No, it's all right, I need to go right now."

"Well, okay. By the way, what were you doing here?"

Lou didn't reply, she just walked away without a proper response.

"Okay?" Hana looked at her direction oddly before heading to Mutsuki's office.

Outside, Lou was prepping Celle-Blader to leave; however, she took one last look at the Oyamada Technical building. Although she didn't care an ounce for Mutsuki's research, finding out that Hana worked for him made her feel a bit guilty, for some reason.

"So… did you find anything?" Hana asked.

"Nope, she blew it up before we could search it thoroughly." Mutsuki replied, "What about you? Did you find anything about our target?"

"I've been making strides, thanks to you."

"Well, at least our expedition wasn't a total waste, especially since she didn't come looking for you."

"Yeah, although it's a bit cruel for me to say, but I'm glad she didn't get in my way."

**End of Chapter**


	5. Episode 5

**Daishinkon Gattai Godannar Kai**

_Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies_

Episode 5

She found herself lying in darkness, her body numb and lifeless, at that moment, she only felt her mind was the only thing active about her body, she tried to understand where she was, how she got here, what was she doing here, all she could feel was lying down against something soft, something gentle.

Suddenly, she felt something caressing her bare legs, they tingled her sensations, she wanted to shiver, but she couldn't, she wanted to say "go away" but no words left her mouth. The hands crept up her legs into a very important and very private area that was forbidden to all but herself. It tickled her no-man's land, drawing heat from out of it in slow trickles. The mystery person then crept to face her, she didn't see his face, but knew he was there, his warm breath breathing against her face. She wanted him to stop, to leave her alone, but he was a cruel being, probably, for he did not stop at all, not even for her cries of mercy that her body would not allow utterance. A pair of hot lips pushed against hers, and something wet and flat crawled into her mouth. She almost wanted to cry, her body was being invaded and yet it would do nothing to free her from his grasp…

Lou woke up from bed with a start, cold sweat running down her face, she got up from bed and went to her bathroom, turning the faucet on, she splashed some cold, cool water on her face and returned to get some sleep, but contemplated that strange dream , "What was that dream? Why am I having it over and over again?"

The following day, no major Mimetic Beast activities were detected, and any ones found were swiftly dealt with without incident. It was an uneventful day, one Lou decided to spend out in the city, wearing her favorite dress shirt with a pink bowtie, a blue pleated skirt, and brown leather boots.

She travelled, with no set destination in mind, letting her mind wander as she strolled, occasionally letting reality to slip back every now and then, mostly to watch for incoming traffic whenever she needed to cross the roads. Soon, she eventually found herself lost in the hustle and bustle of the city, surrounded by strangers and passers-by she hardly recognized.

She looked around her surroundings, thinking of asking someone where she is right now. She didn't need to, as nearby, she saw the restaurant where she and Hana had that meal a few weeks ago, she looked inside, seeing several people having a lavish breakfast. She saw a man and whom presumably was his daughter enjoying a meal together, and she could faintly see herself and her father Lowe having a similar such meal. On another table, she saw a pair of identical twins, one younger and one older, but twins nonetheless, with the same face, then she recalled her days with Ken, she had always looked up to him as the older brother she never had, back in her youth, he was the closest thing to family she ever had, he probably felt the same way, but she never thought to ask. Finally, her eyes rest upon a couple, they were sitting down next to each other, cuddling warmly and intimately, the man whispered sweet nothings into her ear, she responded with a smile and a big, loving hug, Lou couldn't hear what she was saying, but her lips made the familiar motion of a well known phrase: "I love you"

For some reason, Lou could see herself with Hana, his dirty blond hair and goofy grin clear in her mind. It was so weird to her, she hardly even knows who he is, and he seems to know more about her than she does to herself, for some reason, she wanted to be with him right now, her heart ached for his company, but even as the pain struck her, she wanted to hold firm the notion that she had no interest in him, but something in her wanted more, "I want him…"

"No! No… I can't, if I do, he'll…" it was no use, even with all her discipline, deep down, she was still human, still craving for more than the bare minimum, still hopelessly in want of something she was lacking, Lou hated how selfish she was, but she wondered, is it really selfish of her to desire him so much?

"I wonder what you're doing right now, Hana? Because… for some reason, all I can think about is you."

"Achoo!"

"You ok, buddy?"

"Yeah, I'm ok, I just sneezed all of a sudden."

"I guess somebody's thinking about you."

"I sure wish they weren't." Hana sniffed and rubbed his nose, "Anyway, what do we do now, Mutsuki?"

"Entertain the kids." He said bluntly, handing Hana a very colorful outfit.

"Oh c'mon…"

"Hana, it'll be fine, just do the show, say some niceties here and there, and then you can go back to work."

Hana begrudgingly agreed and put on the outfit, as soon as he left, he saw Boomer, wearing a similar outfit, "It's our turn pal."

Hana was handed a helmet to complete the outfit, "Thanks a lot."

Outside the Oyamada Technical compound, several school kids were lining up just outside, waiting in eager anticipation to enter the facility and see what it's like.

"All right kids, now don't be hasty! Just keep a nice, straight line, all right?"

"Why do we have to come with the little ones?" Tatsuko groaned.

"Well, this field trip was for all the classes in the school. Don't worry, I'm sure it won't spoil all our fun."

"Goh-chan!" a high-pitched, chirpy voice called out Mori-kun's name.

Suddenly, a pair of soft, but heavy objects crashed on Mori-kun's head, and soon, he heard the all-too familiar voice of his elder sister: Ami.

"H-Hi onee-san."

"How's my cute little brother doing? You're not being hazed are you?"

"N-No, of course not."

"Obviously, after all, no one hazes you when I'm your big sister, ne?" she said as she bounced her buxom balls on her little brother.

"Ehehe… sure…" he said with a little sarcasm in his voice.

"By the way, how is everything doing with Tatsuko?"

"Oh, were doing all right."

Ami giggled a little, "No, you silly, I mean, are you two an item yet?"

Tatsuko jerked a little at her statement, "A-Ami-san, we're just friends, we're not into _that_ kind of stuff yet, or ever."

"Aww, poo, Goh-chan, you two would make a great duo of husband and wife."

"Onee-san, please stop thinking such crazy things!"

Ami ignored her brother, and looked to the sky with her fist clenched, "Just you wait, Mina nee-san! One of these days Goh-chan and Tatsu-chan will have a house and I will be there nursing their baby with my own milk! Hehe, I have nice big milk-bags too, right Goh-chan?"

"Onee-san?"

"Yes?"

"Tatsuko-san and the rest are already heading inside." He pointed to the fact they were the only ones left on the street.

"Oh, well, onward and upward!" Ami giggled before imploring her little brother to get going, while piggy-back riding him with her boobs hopping frantically on his head.

"This will be a long day…" Mori-kun commented.

Inside, everyone were seating in the large movie theatre inside the compound, all the kids were waiting in eager anticipation, Oyamada Technical was the current sponsor of the popular Japanese superhero television show "Shounenger" and as a bonus, they got the rights to air the first screenings of a movie based on the show at their own compound, with a special facility designed just for that purpose. Mori-kun admitted he was quite the fan of the show, and wanted to go despite Tatsuko's objections.

"I can't believe you're such a geek, Mori-kun."

"H-hey, there's more to this than just colorful outfits and shouting names and stuff."

"Sure there is, loads more." She responded sarcastically.

As everyone was seated, the red curtains slid sideways as a huge canvas screen was revealed, a camera located at the back lit up the screen, after a couple of short credits, the big bold title flashed across the screen "Shounenger: Crisis On The Horizon" to begin the movie.

"Lame…" Tatsuko groaned, Mori-kun ignored her comment.

The scene opened to a shot of a structure under the cover of night, with several guards patrolling the perimeter. Suddenly, a burst of fire erupted from the wall of the facility, the guards, shocked by the sudden event, rushed to the sight of the hole, and from it emerged a large, humanoid-shaped blazing flame.

"Open fire!"

The guards aimed all their guns at the intruder, but all their bullets were for naught as they simply melted at the creature's body. It counter-attacked by releasing a large burst of fire at the group of guards, several of them turned and ran away from the inferno unfolding before them.

The monster ceased his attack and walked casually towards some guards buried in the rubble, before a sudden blast of light struck it from seemingly out of nowhere.

The creature recoiled at the attack, and soon, two figures jumped into the scene, one wearing a primarily green suit, and another wearing a primarily yellow suit, aiming guns that fired rays of light and continued assaulting the monster.

The beast attempted the fight back with more jets of flame, but his adversaries jumped through a gap in his attack, they jumped again, feet first, for a kick as their boots shined in multi-colored light.

The creature was thrown on his back by this attack, his assailants prepared to finish him off, but a massive tornado of fire emerged and dazed them on the spot, as soon as it cleared, the monster was nowhere to be found.

The green one kicked some dust in frustration, "We lost him."

"Shounengers, return to HQ, we need to assess the current situation and formulate a plan of action."

"Roger that."

The two rangers disappeared into a pair of glowing lights which hovered briefly in thin air before quickly rushing off to their destination.

The scene shifted to a hidden fortress high atop a mountain enshrouded by an eerie fog, inside, a bald, cloaked figure sat on his dark-colored but otherwise ornate polished marble throne. He was stirring a strange liquid bubbling in a beaker on his hand, after a little while, he examined the concoction he had created, and sniffed the hazy fume rising from the formula.

Perhaps he found the smell repulsive, or it did not turn out the way he had planned, either way, he threw the beaker down to the floor where the glass broke and the formula spilled across the floor, "Bah! Without that special ingredient, my plan will never be able to take off, and I'll never be able to take over! Where is the Liquid Flame? He is running late."

As if on cue, the flaming humanoid suddenly materialized inside his chamber and stood tall and visible above his master. "Aha, you've arrived, good, I was beginning to get irritated in my ennui."

Several black-skinned creatures walked into the chamber as well, carrying several boxes filled with the strange man's desired contents.

"Oho, this is all working out flawlessly. Now, all we need is one more component, and we'll be all set."

While the kids were out watching their movie, Hana was busy preparing the souvenirs and the food and drinks for when they went on their tour around the compound. After he was done with that, he walked outside the compound's gates to take a smoke with his electronic cigarette.

"Sigh, well, this was an exciting day…"

"Hana?"

He turned his head to the source of the voice that called him out, and found a familiar lavender-haired beauty standing before him, "Lou…"

"Hi… um, what are you doing in that ridiculous outfit?" Lou stifled a giggle.

Hana looked at himself, he was still wearing his Shounenger outfit, "Oh, you mean, this? Oh well, I was supposed to entertain the kids having a field trip today out our compound, and so I stand before you as I am right now."

Lou just smiled, "Well, that's very nice of you, Hana."

Hana cleared his throat, "So, what brings you here today, Lou?"

"Oh well, I just wanted to see if you were around and, you know, if we could spend some time together, but, I see you're kind of busy…"

"Oh, no, not at all, at least, not that much, I mean, I can ask to have someone else handle my post."

"Really, well, all right."

Later…

"Thanks, Boomer, you're a pal."

Boomer rolled his eyes, "Whatever, Hana, just be sure to get back in time for the guests to arrive, all right?"

Hana had changed his clothes and they walked away from the compound for a little outdoor stroll, "Lou, you wanna come over and hang at my place?"

"Oh well, yeah, certainly."

Hana hailed for a cab passing by, and after a relatively short drive of about 20 minutes, they arrived at a huge hotel, "Oh my God, Hana, what is this place?"

"This, Lou, is my family business, it's one of the most posh hotels in Japan, I own it, and I live in the penthouse suite, care to join me?"

After another long ride up the elevator, they arrived at the penthouse. As Lou expected, but nevertheless still shocked, "Hana, I'm speechless, I… I didn't know you were this rich."

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm all that, but this place is pretty cozy. Make yourself at home, would you like anything to drink? Soda, Water, Juice?"

"I'll just have some juice please."

"All righty" Hana went behind the kitchen counter and put some oranges in a juicer, and ground it until the sweet liquids poured out, afterwards, he poured them both a glass with some ice cubes in it and gave one of them to Lou, "Thank you, Hana."

Hana sat down on a comfy couch in the living room, motioning Lou to sit with him, she complied. Together, they sat down in relative quiet, sipping up their juice without saying a word. After finishing up their drinks, they placed the glasses away on tables beside the couch, and found themselves sitting down with even more silence, it was starting to get awkward.

"So… Lou, why did you want to visit me today?"

"Oh, well, no special reason, I just… well, I just wanted to be with a friend today."

"Okay? Well, that's something of an odd reason."

"Well, I'm sorry, if I was bothering you."

"No, no, not at all, I've been wanting to meet you in a while, I figured you'd come and visit me or something now that you knew where I work."

"Well, after what I did to Mutsuki, I figured he wouldn't let me near the place ever again."

"Oh, don't worry about Mutsuki," Hana smiled all silly-like, "He doesn't hold a grudge long, and besides, he's found some new leads so it wasn't a total loss for him."

"Oh, well, I'm glad he isn't mad anymore."

"What happened in those caves anyway?"

"You mean, how it collapsed? I thought Mutsuki told you."

"He didn't, guess he prefers to sweep that one under the rug."

"Oh… well, I, I brought some explosives with me on my Celle-Blader, whether or not Mutsuki was going to make it or not, I figured I would bury the entire nest under the cavern."

"That's… pretty cold."

Lou was taken aback by his comment, "Well… I, to me, all that matters is that I kill them all. That's the only thing that matters to me." Lou lowered her head and felt depressed again, she remembered the reason she had gone down this path, the reason her whole life had gone to Hell, the reason she could not feel love anymore.

Hana held her hand firmly in his, "You seem troubled, come on, you can tell me what's wrong."

Lou started to tear up, "I… I…" and then she started bawling, "My… my father used to work in Cosmo Base, his name was Lowe Roux, I worked there with him, and then… and then…" She grabbed Hana's shirt and started crying on it, "I can't help it! I hate them so much, I can't stand them, and I… I…"

"What is it, Lou?"

"A good friend of mine taught me how to pilot giant robots, but then he was infected with the Insania Virus, and we didn't have a cure at the time, so… I… I couldn't save him."

"Lou…"

"I'm cursed, Hana! Don't you see? All of the people I loved died because of me, that's why, I can't… I don't want to love anymore, I don't want to feel the same pain…" Lou broke down in tears, dampening his shirt with free-flowing tears.

"Lou…" Hana hugged her back, Lou was in so pain, he felt so sorry for her, for the suffering she had to put herself through, he couldn't stand to see her like this. As he caressed her gently, stroking her pure lavender hair with one of his hands, another reached to someplace he probably shouldn't, and felt the soft touch of a warm, tight fabric.

Lou felt him invading someplace secret, "H-Hana?"

(Censored)

Later…

After their moment of passion, Hana and Lou were just lying down together on the boudoir, relishing each other's company. Lou was the first to break the silence.

"Hana?"

"Yes Lou?"

"Can I ask you to promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"Promise me you will never pilot a robot."

"What do you mean?"

"My father and my best friend both died to save my life. Hana, promise me that whatever happens, I don't want you to come and protect me; I can take care of myself. So, promise me you'll never pilot a robot, all right?"

Hana stared into space for a moment, contemplating a response, before returning his gaze, "I promise."

Lou reached up and kissed him gently on the lips, "Good."

No words need to be said to convey how they were feeling right now, only that after today, they had consummated whatever unspoken love they had for each other, and nothing would tear them apart. A sudden ringing of Hana's cellphone broke the silence again, "Hello?"

"Hana, where the frak are you?" It was Boomer, and he sounded quite irate.

"Hey, Boomer, buddy, what's up?"

"What's up? Have you forgotten what today is already? The movie's about to wrap up and I still don't see you back here, now hurry up and get here or else I'll get Mutsuki to cut your salary in half!" Without another word Boomer hung up.

Hana turned to Lou, an awkward smile on his face, "I'm sorry, darlin' but duty calls, it looks like we'll have to see each other another time."

"That's all right, I need to get back home as well."

"At least let me give you a ride back?"

"No, that's okay, I can handle myself."

"Well, if you say so then, but do be careful."

"I will, oh, and Hana?"

Hana was about to re-button his pants when she called his name again, "Yes?"

She crawled close and gave him another kiss and a seductive wink, "Let's do another one some other day, all right?"

Hana gave a smile, "Sure thing."

Meanwhile…

After watching through the whole movie, Tatsuko came to admit, it was the most epic thing she ever saw, "Seriously, Mori-kun, I mean, the part when the monsters showed up, and then they went all over the world to fight them, that was epic stuff."

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself Tatsuko,"

Ami jumped from behind and landed her large breasts on her little brother, "Goh-chan! How was your movie?"

Mori straightened himself out, "It was great, Ami-nee-san."

"That's good, I'm glad my little bro enjoyed himself! What about you Tatsuko?"

"I think… I owe Mori-kun an apology," she turned to face her best friend, "Mori-kun, I'm sorry I ever called you a geek."

"No offense taken."

Tatsuko smiled mischievously, "Instead, I think you're an awesome geek!"

Mori-kun sweat-dropped, "Uh… sure."

A two weeks later…

Anna was brushing Lou's hair, noting how particularly high-spirited she seemed today, "You seem so happy today, Lou."

Lou smiled as she stared at herself in the mirror, "I am, Anna, and it's all thanks to him."

"My, my, this Hana person seems like a real prince charming, is he not?"

"He's more than that, Anna, he's… someone very special to me."

After finishing her job, she gave Lou a big motherly hug, "I'm happy for you, Lou; happy that you've finally found someone who loves you."

Lou returned the hug, "I know, Anna, and I know that everything will be all right, I know it will be."

Suddenly, the alarms around the base blared as a new threat emerged, "Attention, a new Mimetic Beast has been sighted, all combat personnel report to your stations immediately."

"Damn, of all times!" Lou rushed out the room, heading for the locker room to change. Anna rushed after her, also responding to the alarms going off, but also to inform her of something.

"Lou!" Anna arrived after running a short distance to the locker room, "Lou, are you going to fight?"

"Of course I am."

"But… what about Hana?"

Now Lou was silent, as she contemplated how to break the news to Hana. She was waiting for this day for the past two weeks, and now she was going to throw it away just to fight the Mimetic Beast, "Well, I guess I could go give him a call."

Perhaps in response, her cellphone rang loudly in her locker, checking it, she discovered it was Hana making a call, "Hello? Hana?"

"Lou? Hi, I just wanted to call saying I probably can't come tonight."

"What? Why?"

"Overtime, Mutsuki hasn't let me up for what happened two weeks ago, so now I gotta do overtime tonight, I'm sorry."

"Oh well, I guess that's all right, I unfortunately can't come tonight either?"

"What? How come?"

"Umm… I got an emergency, and I'm afraid I'm gonna have to skip out."

"Aww, that sucks…"

"I know, and I'm sorry, I promise we'll go out another time, all right?"

"Well, okay, I love you darling."

"I love you too, sweetie, I'll see you another time, maybe next Saturday?"

"Sure, I'm sure Mutsuki will let me go by then. All right, good luck Lou, be safe."

"I will, don't worry about me, remember, I can take care of myself. I'll see you next time, Hana, take care of yourself too."

Lou and Anna put on their familiar pilot suits, and rushed to the robot hangar in preparation for engagement. The launch ramp for the Dannar Base extended from the sea, and Goh, Anna and Lou prepared to leave.

"Jet Boy, ignition! Go!"

Dannar and Go-Okusaer were launched from the Dannar Base launch ramp, delivered to the battlefront on their Jet Boy insertion robots. Lou, on the other hand, deployed from a separate compartment of the base where Celle-Blader and its support unit – Jet Crow – were released from.

"Celle-Blader, Jet Crow, ready to deploy! Launching!"

Celle-Blader jumped into the air and was picked up by Jet Crow, following shortly after Anna and Goh. Meanwhile, at the designated zone of engagement, a massive Mimetic Beast was sitting in the middle of the open, squat like a toad being lazy on a rock. It did not stir until something fast and svelte approached, it stopped a few feet from the Mimetic Beast.

"Well, well, it looks like we meet at last, and you're not going to get away this time."

The large Beast flung a whip-like tentacle and tried to strike at him, the robot jumped aside and ran along the length of the thick tentacle, cutting it loose from the stump once he was up close. The monster winced and crouched in pain, it roared and released a putrid wind from its mouth, the robot stabbed the ground and held on to ensure it wouldn't be blown away, after that, the creature moved in, lashing with a long prehensile tongue, the robot was flung aside and crashed to the ground, dragging along due to velocity. The creature raised one of its thicker appendages and tried to smash into him, the robot quickly raised its spear and the tip was propelled along an extending cable the punctured and latched to the eye.

The robot then retracted, pulling itself out of harm's way as he was dragged towards the creature's head, "This is the end for you!" A pair of exhausts on the creature's shoulders opened, and a freezing blizzard shot out, "Heaven's Frost!" the freezing cold quickly engulfed the entire beast's face in frost. Paralyzed and with no means of escape, the creature was now in the open. The svelte robot jumped up into the sky, spear aloft, and prepared for the killing blow, "Angel Thrust!" and descended at high speed, breaking through the ice and shattering the Beast's head.

As the corpse fell lifelessly to the ground, the pilot of the mystery robot steeled himself in preparation, "This is it, we've found him at last."

Meanwhile, at Dannar Base, "Commander Tetsuya, you have to look at these readings!"

"What's the problem?"

"There's an abnormal energy spike at the site of the emergency! These readings are off the charts!" A screen flashed to reveal the enormous amount of energy released at the site.

"What the hell is this?"

As Goh, Anna and Lou were nearing the site, they were informed of the unusual energy readings at the location, "What is this reading? It's like nothing I've ever seen before." Anna remarked.

Goh nodded in Dannar, "Well, whatever it is, it's big, and it's not going to be easy to fight once we get there."

Lou cut in, "Regardless, I think they'll be in for a rough surprise when they see what we have in store for them."

Anna was picking up a more signal, "I'm getting a contact, two of them, one of them appears to be mechanical, it must be the other rogue pilot!"

At the scene of the battle, two forms were duking it out, and sparks were flying everywhere, Goh noted as they got visual contact, "It's the other robot… and, what the Hell is that thing?"

Fighting against the silver white robot was perhaps the most peculiar Mimetic Beast they ever saw: a humanoid creature, very different from the bestial forms common to Mimetic Beasts, it struck a chord in the pilots like never before, for the unusually high energy reading came from this creature.

Lou was partially taken aback, "I've never seen a Mimetic Beast like that before."

_Damn, it looks like our party's crashed, I'm afraid we'll have to settle this another time, dear friend._

"Wait, stop!" The creature suddenly disengaged from his opponent upon sensing the arrival of interlopers, and dug a deep hole into the Earth using a powerful, super-heated energy blast.

"Stop!" the mystery robot found himself unable to follow, as he had to escape as well, once Dannar, Okusaer, and Celle-Blader were in view.

Goh was the first to address the robot once they made touchdown, "Hold it right there! You're to disengage and come with us!"

The pilot replied with his flippant attitude, "Sorry, but I've got an appointment to keep, so if you don't mind, cheeri- what the deuce!" his robot was suddenly struck at the side of the head, and suddenly, it was forced to kneel as a vital part of his nav-system was hit, "Dammit, a sniper, I should've known!"

Goh commended Shizuru for her sharpshooting, as usual, "Nice going, Shizuru!"

Hidden amongst some small crags at the foot of a nearby mountain was Core Gunner, Shizuru's robot, lying in ambush, "What can I say? I'm the best at what I do."

Once everything was settled, the four pilot left their robots and approached their renegade, Goh took a megaphone with him, and called for the pilot to come out, "You have nowhere to run, surrender and show yourself!"

With no alternative, the pilot was forced to step out of the cockpit, once he did, he was still obscured by his helmet, which was opaque from the outside, "All right! You got me, no need for hostility!" as he spoke, Lou raised a curious brow, his voice almost sounded familiar…

The pilot stepped down from his robot, arms raised, and walked towards the four pilots, Lou and Shizuru were pointing guns at him in case he did anything funny. Once he was close, Goh walked up to him, and asked briskly, "Remove your helmet, sir."

Silence, he wasn't about to do anything, Shizuru walked up and pointed the gun to his face, "Do it, or else you'll have a serious case of brain damage you won't recover from."

"All right, geez! Get that thing away from me!" But rather than do it right away, he first walked towards Lou, who raised her gun in alarm.

"No funny business!" she warned.

"I'm not… I'm just, well, I suppose there's no way around it." The pilot slowly put his hands on his helmet and raised it slowly, checking to be sure if he could find a way out, and as it turned out, he didn't. With a resigned sigh, he pulled it off to reveal his real face, and no one looked particularly surprised.

Except for Lou, "W-What the?"

"Ehehe, hi Lou."

"Hana?"

**End of Chapter**


	6. Episode 6

**Daishinkon Gattai Godannar Kai**

Episode 6

Everyone at the Dannar Base looked with curious glimpses and spoke to each other in hushed voices, as the rogue pilot was taken to the Dannar Base's holding cell for questioning, guided on the shoulder by Shizuru and with a pair of hand cuffs to keep him from causing too much trouble. They paused momentarily when someone turned around the corners and gave Hana a sharp look, her beautiful, icy blue eyes hiding a boiling anger within, her lips and brows angled to show her unhidden rage, and all Hana could do was smile and ask, "Hey Lou, how are you doing?"

She slowly walked towards him, and with all the strength her arm could muster, slapped him on his right cheek, leaving a visibly red hand print on the side, "You liar! How? How could you do this to me?"

Hana was no longer smiling, but kept a neutral look, "Well, I couldn't let you know what it was I really did, no one should."

Lou proceeded to tear up, looking at Hana while her wet eyes leaked tears down her face written with incredulity all over it. Without another word, Lou ran past him, sobbing as she returned to her room. Without changing she plopped on bed and bawled a flood from her eyes, anger and sorrow pouring from every drop. She stopped for a moment when she saw her little toy frog, the one Hana won for her at the amusement park several days ago, she looked at it for a sec through her dampened eyes, before grabbing it and throwing it hard to the wall opposite her bed, and continued crying.

Hana found himself thrown into the holding cell, it was a bland, almost empty room, save for a simple bed and a table with two chairs, and a door leading to a bathroom. After Shizuru removed his cuffs he was pushed into the room, Hana turned around, visibly annoyed, "Hey, no need to be rough, I'll cooperate."

"Sure you will," Shizuru replied, "I'll see you again later for questioning, don't even think about trying to escape." The cell door shut behind him, and Hana was left to himself once more. He walked towards the bed and sat down, sighing as he did, his mind drifting towards Lou, and cursed his bad luck for having been caught, he needed to find a way to apologize to her somehow, but first he needed to get out of this cell, if there was indeed any other way out.

The mission operators Kei and Hina pulled whatever information they could pull from their database on Hana's identity, "We've got a positive ID on the pilot's identity, known only as Hana, he works as a stock manager at Oyamada Technical, as well as hotel manager for the Tokyo Gold Marble Hotel, no prior criminal record, he's pretty much clean."

Kouji found this a little difficult to understand, "It's amazing how none of this info turned out on his biographical information, I find it hard to discern a motive. What say you, Shizuru?"

Shizuru was stroking her chin in a thoughtful manner, "It looks like we'll have to look into Mister Oyamada's involvement in this, it's highly possible Hana may be working for Oyamada Technical behind the scenes, although that's just speculation on my part."

"Should we interrogate him now?" Kouji asked.

"Give him a few minutes, we need to be sure he won't think of some haphazard means of escape." Shizuru turned to a monitor showing the built-in camera in Hana's cell, so far he didn't show any signs of desperation, he was just lying down relaxed on the bed, from the looks of things, half awake.

One hour later…

Shizuru and Kouji entered Hana's holding cell after he was served some lunch, "Had enough to eat, Mister Hana?"

Hana smiled amiably, "Plenty, and who do I owe this visit to?"

Shizuru pulled out one of the seats, "That would be me, but I have no time for idle prattle, Mister Hana; I wouldn't recommend boring me with idle chitchat while me and my accomplice are here with you in this room."

Hana continued to maintain a sociable disposition, "Wouldn't want that now, would we?"

Kouji was a bit irked by Hana's impudent attitude, but Shizuru maintained her cool, "Anyway, I think you know what the most obvious question is right now?"

"What am I doing piloting a robot outside the authority of the Earth Bases?"

"Very perceptive"

"I'm not at liberty to disclose that information."

"By who's orders?"

"No one's"

"Don't play coy with me."

"I'm telling the honest truth, Miss…?

"Fujimura, Shizuru Fujimura" Shizuru cleared her throat and resumed talking, "Do you want to leave this cell, or not?"

Hana smirked, "Sure, this place is getting old really quickly."

"Then I suggest you cooperate. The longer you keep us up with this issue, the longer you stay here."

"And if I were to refuse?"

"I am empowered to use any and all means necessary to extract information from you, you are not leaving this room until you've answered everything we need to know."

Hana's eyes glances briefly at Shizuru's chest, and thought to himself how interrogation methods were not the only things she was empowered with, but he digresses, "Well, I'll cooperate, but only on one confition."

"And what would that be?"

Later…

"Shizuru-san?"

"What, Kouji?"

"Should we really do as this man says? I'm a bit suspicious."

"We have no choice, the commissioners are getting impatient, and I don't think he's the type to deceive people."

"Still, he and Lou don't seem to be quite on good terms."

"It's all we can work on, we'll just have to deal with it."

Kouji leaned on the wall, sighing in exasperation, "I just hope she'll be willing to talk to him."

An hour or so…

Hana was guided to the door leading to Lou's room with an armed guard, as he approached the door, he unfastened the cuffs put in place on his hands. Hana thanked the guard for his good graces, and told him to wait outside, he would've, anyway, since that was part of the deal. All rooms in the Dannar Base were sound-proofed, so Hana had no fear of eavesdropping. As he entered the room, he felt a particularly cold sting of hostility when he found Lou curled up on her bed, not even a breath from her mouth could be heard in the dull silence of her room.

"Lou?" Hana called out, but she gave no response, she just stayed frozen on the spot, not even looking him in the eye. Hana glanced his eyes around the room, he saw the little orange frog on the floor, walking over, he picked it up, patted it to get the excess dirt off, and sat next to Lou on her bed.

"You know, your room is a little bland," Hana started, not expecting her to talk, "I bet with a little decorating, it would look real nice and presentable, don't you agree?" He turned to face her, she was still curled up in a sullen mood.

"Well, I was just going to see if you were all right, and from the looks of things, you seem rather fine. I'll just make my way to Shizuru now and finish my end of the bargain." But as he was about to go through the door, she called him out, her voice somewhat inaudible because of a sob.

"Hana, wait."

He turned his head slightly to glance towards her, "Yes?"

"Can you… sit down with me for a moment?" She was no longer huddled in her curled position, but sat down, face staring at her lap. Hana joined her side, and once she was calmed, spoke what was on her mind that moment.

"How could you do this to me?"

Hana kept his face composed, "About the promise I made about not piloting a robot?" Lou nodded in response.

"You promised to me, that you wouldn't pilot a robot ever, and then I found out you're the renegade pilot we've been hunting for all this time… do you know how betrayed I felt?"

Hana had no response for that one, he had his reasons, and he didn't want to say it out loud, no one should have to know, most especially, he didn't want her to know, he knew what her response would be when she inevitably would, but it wasn't easy.

"Hana, please, tell me… I love you, and I'll forgive you if you'd just tell me."

Hana brought his hands together to his face, his eyes staring into space as he thought deeply into the matter. Finally, albeit with some visible effort, he responded, "I… I can't, I swore an oath of silence on this matter. If people knew, they would not understand."

"Even me?" Lou asked, and Hana turned away, visibly ashamed, and for the moment, Lou felt she understood him more, "I… I'm sorry, Hana."

"About what?"

"I guess, I thought I knew you already, but it turns out I know very little. You seemed to know more about me than I probably do myself, and I was foolish to think I thought the same of you, but I guess I was mistaken, I'm sorry."

Hana shook his head, "No, it's all right Lou, I'm the one who should be sorry, for having to put you through more pain again."

Both of them fell silent as the tension that sparked between them seemed to defuse, slowly, but certainly.

"Hana?"

"Yes, Lou?"

"Love is based on mutual understanding of two individuals, correct?"

"Of course"

"Then, do you love me enough to trust me with all things about you?"

"I… I'm not so sure."

"I see…" Lou crawled and to bed and laid down, her legs spread wide, "…then I guess the only way for me to truly know more about you, is for us to consummate the love we felt for each other that one afternoon."

Hana raised a curious brow, "Lou, what are you talking about?"

(Censored)

Next Day…

"What!" Kouji was positively agape with surprise when Lou informed him and Shizuru of her what transpired last nigt with Hana.

"You heard me right, that's what we settled on." Lou said matter-of-factly.

"B-But… Miss Roux, this is preposterous!"

Shizuru raised her voice to become audible, "Kouji, lower your voice!"

"But…!" Shizuru shot him a mean look, and he abated, for now.

"Lou, this is the most unexpected decision you've ever made. Are you sure you took everything into consideration before you committed yourself?"

"Yes"

Shizuru sighed, "And are you sure he will cooperate from here on out? He may just be playing you."

Lou was stung by her choice of word, but kept firm, "Shizuru-san, I trust him with my life, and I assure you, he will cooperate. If you renege on this agreement, I will make certain that you never lay a finger on him as long as I live."

Shizuru bent her head down in contemplation, should she let him go, and risk him going rogue, and Lou going on another Menage Zero scenario like when she was younger? Or should she place her trust in Lou and let things play out by itself? With a deep sigh, she knew what her answer would be, "Lou, in the past, our efforts to keep you from out of danger cost us dearly, and I'm not going to permit such an event from happening again. But if you turn your back on us, you face a court martial for everything that's happened, understand?"

Lou nodded, "Loud and clear."

Shizuru picked up her mug of tea and turned around on her seat, "You are dismissed."

Lou nodded, turned, and left.

As Kouji stared at the door she just left through, he turned towards Shizuru again, "Are you sure she can be trusted?"

"When we failed to place our trust in her, we nearly lost everything, I'm not going to make the same mistake. Besides, she's proven to us beyond a shred of doubt she was far more capable than her age implied. I think it's time we cut her some slack."

Lou and Hana were standing at the gate leading out of Dannar Base, carrying a few bags of luggage with them, "Are you sure about this, Lou? Won't everyone miss you?"

"I know they will, but I'm sure they'll be fine, I'm committed to you now, you're my number one priority. I'm certain they'll understand."

Hana curled a sly smile on his face, "By the way… did you tell them of what we did last yesterday?"

Lou slapped him on the arm, "No, do you think I'm that stupid?"

Hana laughed heartily, "Of course not."

After calming down, Hana and Lou embraced, "I love you, Lou."

"I love you too, Hana."

Later…

"Thanks for driving us to the Dannar Base, Hayashi-san."

"No problem kids, just be sure to behave yourselves when you get there."

"Relax Hayashi-san, we'll be fine."

Once Tatsuko and Mori-kun arrived at the Dannar Base, the former rushed quickly to visit Lou's room, "Lou-sempai!" But once she got inside, she was surprised to see no one there, "Lou-sempai?"

Tatsuko entered her room to investigate, "Phew! What is that pungent smell?"

Anna passed by and saw her daughter snooping around Lou's room, "Tatsuko, what are you doing in Lou's room?"

Tatsuko turned to her mother, "Mom, where is Lou-sempai? I was going to come see her today."

"Oh, Lou vacated Dannar Base."

Tatsuko was visibly disappointed, "What? Why?"

"She's moved out with her boyfriend."

Tatsuko's eyes widened at the news, "B-Boyfriend? Lou-sempai has a boyfriend?"

"Yeah"

"I didn't know she had a boyfriend."

"Yes, well, she's had one for over two weeks now."

"She never talked about that with me."

"What are you talking about, she's been talking about this with us for a while now."

Tatsuko delved into deep thought, "Hmm…"

A week earlier…

"Tatsuko, he's absolutely wonderful, handsome, considerate, and loaded, but most importantly, he really knows how to treat a woman like me right."

Tatsuko was not listening, she was actually just jamming to her mp3 player while accompanying Lou on some shopping. Lou was in a lingerie store, picking out something good for her to wear in case she had another night out with Hana. She was looking over the intimate-looking section trying to find the ones that looked particularly kinky, browsing the costume section for the best one.

Lou went to the dressing room and put one of them on, it made her look like little red riding hood, well, the clothes sure looked little at the very least, she giggled at the thought. As Lou stared at herself, she decided to practice some suggestive lines, "My, what big assets you have… Nah," Lou tossed the clothes aside and started looking over the other clothes, looking for something Hana might like, "Hmm… I wonder what is it he likes? I never asked him earlier, oh well."

Lou picked out an army bikini and put it on, then she stood straight and gave a salute, "Sir, ready for orders, sir!" She held a straight face for a while before breaking in laughter, and then she started rummaging for another one that looked perfect.

"Oh, OH! This is it, this is the one!"

Lou rushed out of the lingerie store towards Tatsuko, happy as a cat in a cat food commercial (most of the time), she rushed with a grinning face towards Tatsuko, "Tatsuko! Tatsuko, I found what I was looking for!" Tatsuko took off her earphones when she saw Lou approach, "Hmm, did you say something, Lou-sempai?"

Lou patted her on the head, "Nothing, Tatsuko, nothing at all," she strolled along, gesturing Tatsuko to follow after her, Tatsuko just shrugged, not really curious as to what was in those bags.

End Flashback…

"Huh, now that I think about it, those bags were kinda suspicious…"

Tatsuko left the room and faced her mother, "So Mom, can I go visit her sometime?"

"Well, I suppose you could, but I think she'll be busy, so how about on the weekends."

"Oh come on, you know I visit her every week this day."

"Can't this wait?"

"No"

"Fine, I'll go get the car."

"Thanks Mom"

Meanwhile, at Oyamada Technical headquarters, Hana decided to bring Lou around for a tour around the facility. "So Lou, you just point the way and I can show you which place is which."

"All right, where does this room lead to?" Lou opened inside and found a very messy room, but that wasn't the best part, the walls were plastered with walls of a blonde, blue-eyed girl in various states of undress all over, "Oh my, who's room is this?"

"This is Boomer's room, he's a huge fan of Miyako Gotokuji."

"The famous pin-up girl?"

"Yep, there's not much else to see here, so, wanna move along?"

After leaving Boomer's room, Hana took him to another one of his friend's rooms, it was slightly tidier than Boomer's room with a bright red wallpaper décor, several Chinese scrolls having from the wall, a statue of Lao Tze, and a Win Chun training dummy.

"This looks like the room of a Hong Kong cinema action star."

Hana nodded, "This is the room of Jimmy, he's our security officer, and easily the most skilled martial artist in our facility, we train with him from time-to-time, gives us a real workout."

"Oh my, he seems like some kind of body-builder."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that, he's a pretty nice guy when you get to know him."

"I'm sure I'll make good friends with him, shall we move on?"

Leaving behind Jimmy's room, they travelled to another room of Hana's associates, this one was filled with many book shelves and a desk holding a computer, and a sculpture of an abstract angel tucked away neatly into the corner. "This is the room of our resident intellectual, Takeru."

"He must be pretty smart."

"He's a novelist, always pumping out the next bestseller, he's a hit in France, last I heard."

"Sounds like quite the success story, this Takeru person."

"He's a pretty quiet guy, but when push comes to shove he's stubborn as an ox to the things he believes in."

"Sounds like the hero of some cliché fantasy book."

"Yeah, well, it's who he is, and we like him for it."

Leaving again, Lou and Hana meandered 'round the corridor, until at long last, they came upon Hana's room. Lou didn't think his room would look the way it did, plainly decorated compared to the rooms of his friends, there was a quaint simplicity about it, nothing like the colorful rooms of his friends. If there was any word to describe it, it was common. Lou expected that, for being the owner of such a grandiose hotel, he would have lived somewhere more ritzy.

"Your room looks rather plain Hana, I expected something a bit more… fancy."

"Yes well, I only use this room for sleeping, my real home is at the hotel. That, and I like living simple, really. Sometimes, I do prefer this room more than my penthouse though."

"I see, well, I think this will suffice."

"Suffice for what?"

"Oh, you'll see, anyway, could you help me unpack my things?"

"Of course, I'd be glad to."

Outside, Anna and Tatsuko arrived at the gates of the Oyamada Technical Facility, a guard approached and asked for identification, Anna presented her Dannar Base ID, which sufficed, and they raised the gate bar, but before resuming, Anna asked the guard something.

"Excuse me, I'm do you know where I can find a Lou Roux?"

"Miss Roux? She's staying with Mister Hana."

"What?" Tatsuko raised her voice to a shout at the news, Anna had to pusher back in her seat to keep her down.

"Umm… thank you, sir." Anna drove around into the parking lot and no sooner had she parked, Tatsuko jumped out and made a dash for the building, "Tatsuko, wait!"

Without introducing herself, she rushed to a nearby help desk and asked for Hana's room. A bit shocked, the receptionist replied quickly, "Room 103" and Tatsuko zipped off to the nearby wall displaying the rooms, Anna rushed in after her.

"Tatsuko, stop! I'm… I'm not as young as I used to be!" With a bit of difficulty, Anna caught up with Tatsuko at the elevator, "Tatsuko, what has gotten into you?"

"Well… I think… I mean, I'm just saying…"

Anna crossed her arms, getting impatient with Tatsuko, "Dear, just spit it out."

"I… I think they're going to do something… illegal."

"Tatsuko! What do you think you're thinking about? Lou would never do something like that! At least… not so soon."

"But Mom! She was buying something at the lingerie store!"

"I'm… I'm sure she was just picking out underwear. Look, I think you're taking this the wrong way, once we see them I'm sure we can settle things out, okay?"

Once they were at their floor, Anna and Tatsuko followed the way towards Hana's room. Once they were in front of it, Tatsuko pressed her ear towards the door, trying to listen in on what was going on inside, "Tatsuko, that's rude!"

"Shh! I think I hear something…"

"Oh my, Hana, you're pretty good at this, aren't you?" her tone of voice was very suggestive.

"You're not so bad yourself, whew, it's getting hot, isn't it." Tatsuko guessed that was Hana.

Tatsuko whispered loudly and gestured her mother to come along, "Mom! Mom! Come and hear this!" Anna complied, and listened carefully.

"Oh, Hana, yours is so big…"

"Your fine pair aren't so bad yourself, hehe."

Anna was wide-eyed when she heard their conversation, "What the hell?"

"Hana, do you think you could put yours on mine?"

Anna and Tatsuko pressed closer to hear her response.

"Sure…"

"AAAHH!" Tatsuko and Anna barged into the room, eyes closed.

"L-Lou-chan, you can't do that yet, it's still too early!"

Tatsuko concurred, "Exactly!"

But when they opened their eyes they found Lou and Hana in the middle of cooking. Anna and Tatsuko both had confused looks on their faces, "Huh?"

"Anna-san? Tatsuko?"

"L-Lou? You mean… you were just cooking?"

"Yeah, me and Hana were baking some cakes. What are you two doing here?"

"Oh, Tatsuko and I were just stopping by to see you guys. Oh, is this Hana?"

Hana greeted them with a smile, "Pleased to meet you."

"My, what a gentleman. Anyway, Lou, we were just coming over to see if you were doing all right in your new environs."

"Gee, thanks, Anna-san, but I'm doing all right. I'm glad you two could come over, how about some food before you leave?"

"No thanks, I just ate. Anyway, we're sorry to have bothered you, we'd best be on our way."

"But mom!" Anna plucked her daughter by the ear and dragged her along with her, "Ow, OW! Hey, that hurts!"

"Take care, Lou, be seeing you soon, okay?"

"Sure thing, have fun, Anna-san!"

Tatsuko held on to the door's rim, begging Lou to help her "Waah! Lou-sempai, help me!"

The door closed behind them as Tatsuko was being dragged away, "Those two were an interesting lot."

"I'm just glad they didn't catch us."

"Yeah, so, you said you had a little surprise for me?"

"Oh, right, I almost forgot." Lou dragged Hana towards the bed, "Sit down, and I'll be out in just a little bit."

(Censored)

Next Day…

Mutsuki was stretching his collar, having put on his best suit, which by best meant it was tight, hot and itchy, "Hana, how did we ever get into this?"

Hana, on the seat opposite them on the limousine they rented, was being cuddled by Lou nearby, "Relax Mutsuki, it isn't going to be too much of a problem."

"Too much of a problem?" Mutsuki huffed with annoyance, "This was supposed to be a secret! Do you realize what kind of trouble we'll get into now?"

"Well, I figured now is a good time as any for us to come out with what we're looking for, I for one think the Earth Bases need to be informed, we can't keep this in the dark anymore."

Mutsuki sighed, "Fine, if you think this is what's best."

At the Dannar Base, Mutsuki was guided through the halls with Hana, Lou, and some guards. After a moment spent walking for about fifteen minutes, they arrived in a conference room with Shizuru, Kouji, Anna and Goh. Mutsuki gulped, he wasn't very good in places with lots of people.

"Good morning, gentlemen… and ladies."

"Shall we get this meeting started, Mister Oyamada?"

"Of course, Miss Fujimura. Anyway, we've come together on this meeting today to inform you all of the real crisis that faces us from the shadows."

"…and what sort of crisis is this, Mister Oyamada?"

"The enemy who leads the Mimetic Beasts, and the danger it poses so long as it lives."

**End of Chapter**


	7. Episode 7

**Daishinkon Gattai Godannar Kai**

Episode 7

Mutsuki began the meeting by asking for a canvas screen, pulling out some sort of camera from his briefcase.

"Now, everyone, please direct your attention to the video that I am about to show you. After it is complete, I will explain everything that has been shown in further detail."

After the room was darkened, the canvas screen was lit up by the camera to show a video of what appeared to be a recording, a miniscule man, his back turned to the camera, was seen instructing a group of orderlies in another room, examining some strange rock on an examining table.

"This is the personal log of Director Oyamada," the man turned about to face the camera, his countenance bearing a few similarities to Mutsuki, but somewhat distinct from him.

"I stand before you on the verge of a major scientific breakthrough," He raised his arm in presentation of the rock in the next room, "This meteorite, codenamed Specimen Six, was discovered off the coast of Tierra del Fuego. Prior to its arrival on our planet, our astronomers were conducting some of our more… outlandish pursuits: The search for extra-terrestrial life, an endeavor which is, without a doubt as of present, mocked by the scientific community. But my specifically chosen team of stargazers has finally borne fruit to my little pursuit. A month ago, our sensors picked up an organic, biological signature coming from a meteorite that appeared to be on a collision course with the Earth. Judging by the readings, it appeared to be some sort of alien life."

The orderlies pulled out some high-powered cutting tools, and started slicing a chunk of the meteorite. Director Oyamada continued his recording, "Thanks to the efforts of our crew, we managed to recover the meteorite before it sank beneath the waves and was lost forever."

"Director, come and take a look at this!"

The orderlies directed his attention towards a mysterious slimy substance that oozed from the cut they sliced into. "Intriguing…" and then a faint squeal, like a newborn animal, broke through from the meteorite as well.

A tiny creature, which could only be described as some kind of worm with bulbous eyes and needle-sharp teeth emerged, writhing about stuck to the meteorite.

"What an interesting specimen we have here. I must end the current recording as of the moment; with this new development I am eager to begin a thorough examination of this creature." The recording ended right there.

Mutsuki stopped the video for now, as he suspected everyone had questions.

Anna was the first to make the inquiry, "What in the world was that?"

"That, Mrs. Saruwatari, is Specimen Six, or, as we currently refer to it – the Progenitor Beast."

Shizuru turned to ask more, "I assume that this Progenitor Beast is, if I'm not mistaken, the first Mimetic Beast that came to our world?"

"Precisely, Miss Fujimura, my father, the previous Director, was the one to discover it, although, at the time, he and no one else had any idea what it was."

"Well, at least now we know how those things got to Earth." Goh cut in, "I assume your father kept it under tight security?"

"Naturally, Mister Saruwatari, it was a one-of-a-kind discovery, and my father was absolutely sure to keep it under tight surveillance." After answering their inquiries, Mutsuki reactivated the camera and started a new recording. "Let us continue. This one skips over to my father's particular application of how he would use the creature."

The display once more came to life as a new recording began, showing Mutsuki's father wearing a HAZMAT suit, "Personal log, Director Oyamada. It has been some time since my last video journal entry. In the time since our analysis of the alien creature, we have discerned some of its unique characteristics, and it is unlike anything we have seen on our Earth. The creature boasts an unusual ability to absorb various kinds of matter, mineral or organic, the creature uses it to build up its own mass and size, but that is not what interests me the most about the specimen. For a long while I have been trying to find some means to use the creature for the benefit of science and mankind, on this video, I shall explain how I intend to apply it. The creature possesses great strength and regenerative capabilities; it is my goal to find a means to develop some method with which to apply these traits to human beings, the leaps in medical and biological fields of science would be unprecedented. Two of my staff have volunteered to partake in my experiment, I will record my results after I have achieved either success, or failure."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Shizuru asked.

"This is where Mister Hana comes into the picture." Mutsuki replied.

Lou turned to Hana, "Hana, what do you have to do with this?"

Hana pecked Lou lightly on the forehead, "Don't worry, Lou, you'll see soon enough where this is going."

Another video was started, this time showing the Director in a somber mood, "Personal log, Director Oyamada. My experiments regarding the application of the creature, Specimen Six, has been fruitless. Time and again we have attempted to create a new generation of man by merging the DNA of my specimen with the reproductive cells of my volunteers, the resulting offspring have developed… undesirable side-effects as a result. My colleagues have grown weary of our experiments and have been asking me to approve their resignation; although I still desire to continue with my procedures, these people are my friends, and they've suffered enough. In a few weeks' time I will seal the specimen away until a later time when I have perfected a more efficient way to realize my goal."

Mutsuki ended the video, but promptly began another one so that they would get the point of what Hana's involvement in all this was.

"Personal log, Director Oyamada. I had just the most amazing news; my two co-workers have informed me that they have conceived a perfectly healthy baby boy. This is most unprecedented news. They have agreed to meet with me to meet with the boy; quite an unusual turn of events, after so many failures at our labs here, they manage to produce a fine newborn free of any form of defect."

Another voice cut in with a sense of urgency, "Director! The specimen has escaped!"

The Director turned towards the orderly in alarm, "What? Quick, secure the building, activate the sensors, we can't let the specimen leave this building! Director Oyamada out."

Mutsuki once more stopped the video to answer their questions, though he started by answering what he felt was the most obvious one, "That was when the first Mimetic Beast was set loose upon the world."

Shizuru nodded, "The video implied that adequately, but that does not quite answer what Mister Hana has to do with all this."

"I'm getting to that. Okay, I'm about to show the final video that will explain all of this."

The last video activated to show the Director once more, albeit with a disheartened look on his face, "Personal log, Director Oyamada. My volunteers, my friends, they were killed when the specimen, having grown to tremendous size after absorbing massive quantities of matter; it attacked the hospital where they were staying and crushed them in debris. I had sent two of our best robot pilots to intercept the creature and see if they were still alive, instead, all we recovered of them was their child. Its saddens me to know the young lad would never grow up with his real parents, sadder still, is the fact they even gave him a name before they passed away. According to our pilot who recovered him, his mother had enough strength left to tell her his name: Hana"

After the video was done, the lights came back on, and everyone stared off into space not sure what would happen next.

Except for Shizuru, who knew what her question was, "You told us about this 'true enemy' that threatens the Earth for as long as it lives?"

Mutsuki nodded, "Yes."

Shizuru continued, "I am assuming that this true enemy is the first Mimetic Beast? The so-called Progenitor Beast?"

Mutsuki nodded, "Indeed, it is."

"What is this thing? Why does it want to destroy the human race?"

"It has no reason to do anything it does, it is a parasite, it lives only to survive, and it survives by feeding on organic and mineral substances, propagating more of itself and repeating the process over."

"What do you mean by 'repeating the process?' It sounds like it's done this sort of thing before."

"It has, or rather, several generations of it has."

"Several generations?"

"We have developed a theory as to the nature of Mimetic Beasts, and their methods of propagating throughout the universe. As I've stated, these creatures feed in order to survive, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, suppose that they strip a planet completely of everything that could sustain it, what then, would it do? The answer was in the meteorite, the Progenitor creates a vessel, so-to-speak, and lays the egg for a new Progenitor inside, once it has completed that, the vessel is thrown into space, where it remains dormant until it lands on a new planet. To be perfectly honest, I am rather fascinated by the prospect, like how these creatures could withstand vacuum and solar radiation, their physiological properties are astounding and…"

Hana nudged him with his elbow, "Ahem…"

Mutsuki stopped before he trailed off on one of his scientific ramblings, "Anyway, it is imperative we destroy this creature, because it will not stop until the Earth has been sucked dry, or made barren as a result of the endless warfare it wages upon us."

"That much, you've made clear to us," Shizuru said, "But we need to know, can we depend on you to help us defeat this abomination?"

"Absolutely."

"How?" Anna chimed in, "We don't even know where it is."

"Well, then that is where our secret weapon comes in."

"What secret weapon?" Goh asked.

"You're looking at him." Mutsuki aimed his thumb at Hana.

Everyone looked at Hana with a puzzled look, "What is his involvement in all of this?"

"Hana knows precisely where the Progenitor is, all the time." Mutsuki replied confidently.

"And how does he know that?" Shizuru asked.

"Well, allow me to explain," Mutsuki started, "You see, the Progenitor controls every Mimetic Beast on the planet with its mind. Think of every Mimetic Beast as, shall we say, a colony of ants or a nest of bees – Mimetic Beasts are the drones, the Progenitor is the Queen. The Progenitor communicates with and controls the other Mimetic Beasts via telepathy. It is through this telepathy that gives them unprecedented levels of coordination and efficiency that surpasses human responses."

"Wait a moment," Goh cut in, "But that goes against the events that occurred after the first war with the Mimetic Beasts. They went rampant and became wild, running amok throughout the Earth in a disorganized manner."

"That one," Mutsuki began, "is where your associate Miss Ackerman comes into the picture. You see, here is another interesting theory I have developed regarding their nature. Prior to their arrival on Earth, Mimetic Beasts arrived on planets inhabited by single-gender organisms with no distinct genetic divergences between them, and then they came to Earth, where, not having encountered the unique properties of divergent sexual characteristics, were unprepared for what happened next. As you recall, the Progenitor only collected the DNA of a male – Hana's. But when it collected the genes of Miss Ackerman, it discovered a similar, but different, genetic structure than that of the pool of genetic material he acquired from Hana, resulting in the creation of an antidote to the Insania Virus."

Shizuru cut in, "But you never said Hana was ever absorbed by this creature when he was a newborn."

"Well, not at first. At one point, when looking for his adoptive father, who had left Oyamada Technical for personal reasons, he was intercepted by the creature and had some of his DNA sucked out, but fortunately, we managed to recover him in time."

"And, just out of curiosity, but who were his adoptive parents?"

Mutsuki pointed to Lou, "Ask her."

Lou looked confused, "Me?"

Mutsuki nodded, "Well, he did teach you how to pilot robots, after all."

Mutsuki seemed to think this was common knowledge, but he knew everyone wes a bit surprised at this revelation. Hana confirmed their suspicions, "Yes, everyone, Ken and Rosa were my adoptive parents."

Goh leaned forward, "So I assume the 'personal reason' Ken left your organization was because…?"

Hana finished his statement, "…He wanted to recover Rosa's robot, which was trapped in the body of one of the Mimetic Beasts." Hana turned to Lou, "It's safe to say that you know how that ended."

Mutsuki proceeded to discuss in detail about certain facts about Hana, such as his own unique biological properties that made him, in a word, more than a mere human. Everyone stepped out into the VR robot-piloting simulation room. Here, Hana was put inside one of the pods and was quickly put through the Level S training course.

"Hana, you comfy in there?" Mutsuki asked over the comms.

"I'm okay, Mutsuki, just fire it up."

Lou was curious to see Hana perform against the Level S scenario. The Level S was the highest practice simulation level in the VR pods; only the most experienced robot pilots could make it through successfully.

The pod was booted up, and started immediately at the Level S scenario; Hana remained calm and focused as the swaying, erratic targets moved about on screen. Everyone was watching intently for his next move; suddenly, Hana made quick responses with his fingers and, in an instant, all five rapidly moving targets were obliterated.

Everyone was dumbstruck by his superhuman response times and speed by which he handled the scenario.

Shizuru was the first to respond, "What amazing response."

Goh followed with his own remark, "The best pilots can, at least, finish Level S in one and a half minutes. But Hana has accomplished it in less than fifteen seconds!"

Hana left the cramped up pod to get a breather. As soon as he was out, Lou came to see him personally about his achievement.

"Hana, that was… that was amazing! Even I can't handle Level S that fast!"

"Yes, well, I've already done this a few times already, to me I've grown practiced at it already."

"Well, I still think you're amazing."

"As a robot pilot?"

"No, as my boyfriend" Lou leaned in and hugged him lovingly; Hana hugged her back with a smile.

Hana and Lou decided to go out for a little alone time while Mutsuki handled the rest of the meeting with the Dannar Base command staff.

"As you've already seen for yourself, Hana is an apex pilot, which makes him the top candidate for our latest and most advanced fighting robot."

"The white Gainer?" Shizuru queried.

"Yes, our brand new Gainer model, the Spear Gainer. It has been customized specifically to suit Hana's performance."

Goh had his own questions, "That teleporting feature of the Spear Gainer, is it one of the unique capabilities of his robot tailored for him?"

"Indeed, it is – the Spatial Compression Shift. We tried numerous times to see if we could use the technology for other pilots, but only Hana shows strong tolerance for continued use to SCS. Most ordinary pilots tend to suffer severe head pains, he doesn't."

"I believe we had nearly forgotten about this, but how is Hana able to know precisely where the Progenitor is at all times?"

"Well, Mr. Saruwatari, as I've said before, the Mimetic Beasts are telepathically controlled by the Progenitor. The Progenitor's ability to direct its underlings, however, depends on whether said underlings have Mimetic Beast DNA. Hana, as the result of my father's attempts at creating the next-generation of human, possesses Mimetic Beast DNA in his being, as such, he is psychically linked with the Progenitor, and knows where it is and where it will go."

"Isn't it a bit dangerous?" Shizuru asked.

Mutsuki raised a brow, "Pardon?"

Shizuru explained herself, "Hana has Mimetic Beast DNA, specifically that of this Progenitor Beast. I'm just suggesting that, with all this information, wouldn't Hana be influenced, in a sense, by the Progenitor if that is the case?"

Mutsuki shook his head, "I assure you, Miss Fujimura – Hana bears the same DNA of the Progenitor, that much is fact, but because of that, he is of the same mental capacity as the Progenitor, he can resist the creature's influence. This is what makes him our secret weapon against the Progenitor."

Elsewhere…

Lou decided to take Hana back to her room in Dannar Base.

"Come in, Hana, I know it's not much, but please make yourself comfortable, it's the least I can do."

"Thanks."

Lou went out to get some refreshments for him, Hana sat down on her old bed, examining her room - it was very plain and didn't have much to offer, just a bed, a wardrobe, a small reading desk, a side table, and a lamp.

"Poor Lou," he thought to himself, the dull emptiness of the room was symbolic of the emptiness she felt when she was younger. He felt, with his latent empathic abilities, very sad in this room, it was like a prison cell with walls made of moroseness and regret.

"Hana, I'm back!" Lou came in, chirping happily as she did so. Hana smiled, he was happy to see that Lou's current personality was nothing like the room's bitter aura.

Lou sat gently on his lap, putting away the tray on the side table, "But first, a little alone time, shall we?"

The two lovebirds cuddled merrily on the bed, enjoying the most out of their current alone time. Hana sniffed loudly as he caressed Lou's neck with his nose, "Mmm…"

Lou glanced at him curiously, "Hm? Hana?"

Hana smiled without thinking, "You smell nice, Lou."

"Huh?"

"You have a certain scent about you, very… earthy and natural. I like it."

Lou fiddled in embarrassment, "Oh… um… well, yes, I do smell nice don't I?"

"Uh-huh," Hana continued sniffing her, "What kind of scent is this?"

Lou didn't have the heart to tell him, she was rather abashed that he noticed. Ever since becoming a Menage Zero on her own, Lou rarely, if ever, took baths. She never took notice of her odor and since no one really cared, she never bothers to clean that often. Lou had to admit though; there was something vaguely appealing about Hana enjoying her scent. When you're in love, Lou thought, everything about a person is attractive, even their malodor.

"I'm afraid that's a secret, Hana. There are some things a woman has to keep to herself." Which probably gives you incentive to tear my clothes off to find out, Lou thought to herself, but he was her boyfriend, it was natural for him to lust for her every now and then.

The two lovers continued cuddling for the better half of an hour, until Hana decided to start a conversation.

"Lou?"

"Yes Hana?"

"You were really very lonely back then, huh?"

"Huh?"

"This room… it's so lifeless, there's not a single thing in here that shows you were happy about something."

"Well… what was there to be happy about? I lost my father, I lost my friends, I had nothing left…"

"…Except revenge."

Lou fell silent for a moment, "Revenge…" it was such a strong word, hearing it sent memories flashing through her mind. Memories that burned and tore her soul apart; back then, she hungered for it, she craved for punishing the Mimetic Beasts, the monsters that killed her father and left her completely alone; but the more she satisfied her thirst for revenge, the more empty she felt. Looking back on those dark days, Lou couldn't help but loathe herself; she thought, that by feeding her craving, she could keep the memory of her father within her grasp; she might as well have been holding a lump of red-hot coal. She thought that, after her father died, she could never find joy again; but after meeting with Hana, everything she had ever done had come back to slap her in the face.

The truth was, she could always find happiness again. Happiness, her happiness, was waiting for her to find it, but she turned it away. She could have helped her foster parents, the Saruwataris, during their crisis when Mira woke up. She could've found a new family, and rekindle the flame of life in herself again. Most important of all, perhaps… perhaps, she could've met Hana by now.

'Of all the mistakes I've ever made…" She thought, "Why did I commit the most stupid of them all?'

Lou started crying into Hana's shirt, which caught him unawares.

"Lou?"

"Hana… I… I don't like it in here anymore…"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. It's all around us, this room; it's full of my regrets, all my regrets. I don't like it here anymore, that's why I went with you, you fill my life with purpose, living with you has been the best thing that's ever happened to me, while living here brings me nothing."

Hana brought Lou's eyes to meet with his, "Lou, I would conquer the whole world for you if you'd so much as ask. I've done a good job so far of bringing light back into your world. But I'm afraid I can only do so much."

"How so?"

"No matter what I do, Lou, I'm afraid I can never bring you out of whatever darkness is killing you inside, that is something I can only help you to do for yourself."

"But… but Hana, I can't… I can't do that alone." Lou started to whimper.

"Not now, at least," Hana brought his lips on her head, kissed her softly, and swayed her gently, "One day, Lou, we will fly together to heights greater than Heaven itself, but for now, I will watch over you until you are ready to leave the nest."

Lou smiled, "Thank you, Hana… Thank you for everything…"

Once the sun began to set on their part of the world, Hana, Lou and Mutsuki bid Dannar Base farewell. As they drove away back to Oyamada Technical, Mutsuki palmed his face in exhaustion. Lou was sleeping, propping her head on his shoulder.

"That was a lot of work, Hana. I'm pooped."

Hana chuckled softly, "I thought you were doing rather well, Mutsuki."

Mutsuki looked cross, "Hey, I don't do well in crowds."

"What crowd? They were only, like, four of you discussing the whole thing."

Mutsuki huffed, "Okay, I don't do well with strangers. Besides, I thought you'd have a thing for Miss Fujimura." 

Mutsuki blushed, "Well, I suppose she is pretty hot. But she's cold as ice, and I have no appeal for ice queens."

"I don't know about that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you just need to help her ease out of her old woman act."

Mutsuki shrugged, "Hey, I'm okay with hot older women, but I don't have Christmas cakes if they won't let me have at them."

"That's your job to break open their cake to get at the creamy fillings."

"Easy for you to say, at least you have a girl who's ready and willing to do you in."

Hana shot him a glare, "Hey, are you trying to insinuate something?"

Mutsuki raised his hands and waved in defense, "No, no! I don't mean anything bad!"

Lou shifted in her position, moaning a tired sigh. Hana stroked her silky lavender hair and kissed her lightly on the head. It was good to know that he could help bring a smile on her face again. But she still had dark clouds hung over her head, and although he wished to part those gloomy elements from her heart, he knew that Lou could only do that by herself if she only chose to. He felt that she was on the verge of making that choice; all he had to do was grease the wheels of that decision.

The Next Day…

No sooner had the day begun than an alarm sounded, and a gargantuan Mimetic Beast approached the vicinity of the Oyamada Technical facility. Hana reported quickly to the deployment bay where Spear Gainer was being kept.

Mutsuki was in the control room, checking the Gainer's readings, "All right, Hana, you are clear to go."

"Roger that Mutsuki."

One of the operators observed the attaching of Gainer's support craft – Jet Swan, attach on its back. "Jet Swan unit engaged and prepped."

"Spear Gainer, deploy!" Hana was launched from the catapult bay, Jet Swan activated, leaving a stream of fire behind as it pushed Spear Gainer further away from the catapult ramp, until it was thrown high into the air.

"Mutsuki, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear Hana, all systems have been checked out. I'll upload the coordinates to the hot zone where you'll find… hold on."

"What is it, Mutsuki?"

"Hana, there's something coming your way, and it isn't a Mimetic Beast."

Suddenly, Celle-Blader zoomed alongside Spear Gainer, and inside Hana's cockpit, a digital window showing Lou appeared.

"Hana!"

"Lou? What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want to fight with you!"

Mutsuki rolled his eyes, "Well, this is an unexpected surprise."

"Mutsuki, may I have a moment with Hana?"

"I have to maintain radio contact at all times, you never know what might happen…"

"Mutsuki…" Hana started, "…You can cut the communication lines for a couple of minutes."

"But Hana…"

"It'll be fine, I won't take long."

"Oh, all right, fifteen minutes. No more than that." Mutsuki cut his end of the line.

Hana turned over to Lou, "Now, you had something to speak with me about?"

Lou cleared her throat, "Hana, I want you to make another promise with me."

Hana felt nervous, he hoped it wouldn't be another thing he secretly couldn't keep, "What is it?"

"I want us to fight together, and die together."

"Die… together?"

"Hana, my father and Ken both died trying to save my life. I don't want you to play the hero; I want to fight with you as your soul mate. If either one of us die, we will both be alone, separated by life and death; I don't want that, I want us to be together, wherever we are. You already could not keep your first promise not to throw yourself in danger, now I want you to promise me that if we have to die, we die together. Will you promise me that much?"

"Lou…"

"Hana, please, will you promise me?"

Hana bent his head in contemplation, "All right, but don't be so eager to kill yourself. We still have many things to live for."

"I don't intend to be killed."

Hana smiled, "Then let's go and cheat death, Lou!" The two lovers zipped across the clear blue sky. Whether or not fate was against them, they did not know. What they did know was that they wouldn't stand by themselves against it.

Lou had seen how the power that Goh and Anna shared together overcame tremendous odds, now she was going to feel that power as well.

As for Hana, he knew Lou still had many more leagues to overcome before Lou would overcome her inner demons, but no matter what happened, he would stand with her until the very end.

End of Chapter

A/N: See you all in eight and a half weeks!


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